E
ENVIRONMENT & HERITAGE SERVICES
ANNUAL REPORT
2007 ~ 2008
COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT LEICESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
OUR VISION
To play a significant role in the improvement of local community wellbeing, to protect and enhance the county’s environment and heritage, and to improve access to recreational and learning activity and resources, for the people of Leicestershire, its visitors and for future generations.
OUR VALUES
Our Vision is rooted in diversity, creativity, innovation and excellence, from which flow the following values:
• Support a well trained and motivated workforce
• Aim for a high standard and quality service that is value for money
• Proactively and positively work with and value our partners
• Embrace our diversity as an opportunity to learn from each other
• Respect those we serve and work with
• Enhance our community and environment
• Protect our culture and material heritage
• Respect for knowledge and wanting to share it
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COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE
ANNUAL REPORT 2007-08
SUMMARY AND HIGHLIGHTS It has been a year of significant change during 2007-2008. Alongside our five key objectives we recognised the need to review Service structures in order to realign to new Government agenda, and to meet efficiencies targets.
Our objectives were agreed as: • To help protect, enhance and promote the natural, historic, cultural and social environment of Leicestershire and its related collections and information. • To develop and maintain a skilled and motivated workforce, staff and volunteers, to serve local communities. • To increase participation and broaden the audience base in priority areas. • To ensure service outcomes are delivered within statutory frameworks and to appropriate standards. • To secure better services by creative methods of service delivery, working in partnership, effectively and efficiently.
Our key performance objectives for the year, as part of the Community Services Service Plan were:
• To secure external funding for the South Leicestershire Treasure project. • Completion of Bosworth Battlefield Visitor Centre and achievement of museum accreditation. • To meet the revised timetable and programme for the Minerals and Waste Development Framework. • Implementation of the Review Panel on the Arts recommendations. • Service repositioning to meet new agenda/restructure, including Country Parks. • Business Plan for redevelopment of the Record Office.
Overall performance in delivering these objectives was excellent. Work to scope future capacity needs of the Record Office moved ahead, with fruitful partnership discussions with the Media Archive for Central England (MACE) and the East Midlands Oral History Archive First visitors at Bosworth (EMOHA). Other areas were achieved or progressing Battlefield Visitor Centre to target. A programme of action was agreed for environmental risk assessment and additional funding secured for a Climate Change officer. Further work is identified to improve the percentage of footpaths and rights of way easy to use by the public, from 72.3% up to 79%.
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Overall, we identified 270 activities for the three year period, a reflection of the range and diversity of the Service's functions and of the high level of outcomes. Our performance for 2006/2007 was very high – 97%, with 253 actions out of 261 delivered or on track. For 2007/2008, performance was 95%.
Analysis of the areas of underperformance has shown that: • For a further year, ICT work under-resourced corporately continues to impede progress with GIS and other infrastructure projects. • Poor summer weather had a detrimental effect on visitor attendances to museums, country parks and outdoor events (the Bosworth Battlefield re-enactment was cancelled). • Delays in delivering certain projects as a result of complex agenda and changing requirements, sometimes at Government level. • Further work is required as a matter of priority for website content and development.
Details of achievements during the year follow, but some highlights are:
• Over 600 grants were awarded to local communities and organisations to enhance community development, village halls, the environment, arts and community museums. • We had contact with over 1.8 million visitors and service users to the Record Office, Country Parks, Museums, resource centres and historic sites. • We received 426,687 ‘visits’ to our web pages. • We were successful in achieving Accreditation for Bosworth Battlefield Visitor Centre (first time) sustaining Visitor Accredited Quality Attraction status (VAQAS) for all sites and Green Flag status for Market Bosworth, Beacon, Watermead and Donington le Heath Country Parks. • We generated externally funded projects to a value of £5.065m in 2007/2008, working towards projects totalling £4.714m in 2008/2009. This includes £969,000 awarded in March for Melton Carnegie Museum development, a further £900,000 towards Ashby Canal project and £2.4m for the three year Find Your Talent (cultural offer) pathfinder. • 3,000 objects were recorded last year, from detectorists and museum identifications. • The completion and opening of the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre exhibition in February. • Restoration of (the long disused) Measham Station from Single Regeneration Budget, emda, WREN, Measham Development Trust among others. Connect 2 • Connect2 Lottery Award of £700,000, a share of 'The Peoples £50 million' lottery prize for Watermead Country Park improvements to footpaths and cycleways. • Successful mineral restoration schemes such as Cossington sand and gravel extraction now restored to wetland, grassland and pastureland – the site formally opened by Sir David Attenborough.
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The proposals for restructuring the Service were initiated in the Summer 2007 with a discussion document opened up for views and feedback from all staff, followed by detailed Action Plans in early 2008. The Service's budget has been reduced by 10%, and 10% of staff posts also, at all levels. Particular steps have been taken to protect frontline services wherever possible, and to ensure that new ways of working at strategic and operational levels can make the best use of our expertise and knowledge of the county.
As a result of the changes, some staff have moved to new roles, service areas and departments. Others have left or will be leaving the Service during 2008/2009. There have been uncertainties for many staff during the year, and many challenges. Thanks must go to everyone for working together positively to help deliver the changes and in particular for the contributions to the work of the Service by those staff who will be moving on.
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REGENERATION - SERVICE DESCRIPTION
Introduction
The role of the Regeneration team is to lead and support the making and implementation of regeneration policies and action programmes to ensure that social, economic and environmental regeneration in the County is sustainable and targeted to where need is greatest. Work in 2007-08 has centred on:
Land and Property Improvement
Key schemes have been: • Ashby Canal – The extension of the canal from Snarestone to Measham has been developed through continuing hydrological, ecological and archaeological studies, engineering design work and the development of funding bids in preparation for the beginning of restoration. Land acquisition of the canal route has commenced and Ashby Canal Trust lottery tickets have been launched. • Measham Station – Refurbishment of Measham Station for commercial use and to provide new premises for Measham Museum has been carried out with the work due for completion by June 2008. • Snibston Museum – Feasibility studies have been carried out to assess the potential for development of a touring caravan site and for an office and leisure development. • Arts Projects – At Phoenix Green foot/cycle bridge in Coalville a scheme to work with young people to design and develop art work and to paint murals at the bridge was completed in May 2007 and at Forest Road railway footbridge in Coalville a similar scheme is underway which also involves arts metalwork and complementary work to refurbish railings, rebuild walls, resurface the footway and clean, repoint and repair the adjoining railway road bridge. On the Ashby Canal a study of arts interventions has been carried out and identified a range of opportunities for arts projects associated with the restoration.
Forest Road Footbridge, Coalville
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Sport and Activity
Work has continued on the project to encourage County Council staff to become more physically active and to improve their wellbeing. Taster sessions were offered for staff to take part in a range of activities which has resulted in permanent sessions being established for salsacise, yoga, tai chi and pilates. A database of activities is being established and information provided to enable staff to be more physically active and to improve their overall wellbeing.
Village Halls
During the year offers were made to 9 village hall committees for a range of works to improve their facilities. Over £47,000 of grant aid was offered for schemes costing over £764,000 for schemes including extensions, improved disabled access, replacement windows, kitchen refurbishments electrical works, heating, damp proofing and flooring.
Community Based Regeneration
Action has centred on: • The Department supports seven training projects that are spread all around the County. In 2007/08 46 people were assisted to achieve employment, 18 people progressed to further education or training and 18 people were helped to use the skills needed to take up volunteering opportunities in other projects/agencies. Many of the people attending these projects have a disability or learning difficulties. Over 1,000 people attended these projects and received in-house training in warehousing, computing, catering, customer care, office skills, textiles, van driving, carpentry and health and safety. In many cases they will also have received help and advice concerning employment or training opportunities. In excess of 2,000 people were assisted by two outreach projects giving advice on employment and training, welfare rights, benefits, debt issues, drug dependency and homelessness. • The Buffet Car is the Group’s in house catering training scheme for adults with a learning disability we have worked with 14 people of varying ages and abilities over the past 12 months, most of them working towards achieving their NVQ in Quick Service. During the year, 3 people have achieved their qualification and moved on: 1 into employment, 2 into a voluntary placement and 3 into further education/training. A really successful charity event was enjoyed in December 2007 for the Guide Dogs Association. The project is planning visits this year to Leicester market and other catering venues. • Assistance to the Next Generation project to support vulnerable young adults dropping out of mainstream education and with issues of homelessness, drugs etc to help enable them to gain employment (paid or unpaid) or progress to further education/training. • Community Plus SHIRE Grant Scheme – 438 community groups were supported with the cost of meeting and activity space by grants totalling c£125,000. • Funding and officer support was provided to 11 Community Centre projects providing social and developmental opportunities and services for communities with a focus on areas of deprivation often in urban areas.
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Rural Business Support
One hundred and twenty two rural businesses based in the farming, tourism, food and drink, creative, knowledge, equestrian and social enterprise sectors have benefited from over £200,000 of grant funding and advice in 2007/08 to assist in the development of their business and the local rural economy.
The programme offers four grant schemes; a key sign-posting role for businesses to other support available; and rural business advice fairs, in partnership with over 20 other rural business support agencies, which provide the opportunity to access funding, training and advice - free of charge.
The four grant schemes are: • Farmer's Development Grant to DEFRA registered farmers to undertake diversification projects. Culloden Farm were awarded a grant to purchase an ice cream trailer to take their delicious Gopsall Fresh Farmhouse Ice Cream to sell direct to market. R H Beesley is another Leicestershire farmer that was awarded a grant for upgrading the cross country course he offers for events, through providing jumps and car park facilities. • Rural Visitor Scheme provides grants towards the costs of accreditation, marketing, training and infrastructure development, to develop and upgrade the tourism sector and offer an enhanced visitor experience. Ashby Parva Plant Centre was awarded a Rural Visitor grant to convert an area of their plant centre into a farm shop selling farm fresh quality local produce, from which they deliver to people in the local village. Lady Gate Guest House and Wistow Maze both received support for marketing leaflets and brochures, and support for signage. • Rural Micro Business Grant provides assistance to invest in new equipment to increase productivity, profitability and competitiveness of rural based industries in Leicestershire. Taylor's Bakers and Confectioners in Kegworth were awarded funding towards bakery equipment; Mere Lane Riding School received funding towards computer equipment, website development and equipment to upgrade their facilities. Reuben Heaton Ltd in Market Bosworth, with a 150 year tradition of making fine quality fishing tackle, was awarded a Rural Micro grant to rebrand it’s image and exhibition materials, whilst also receiving support for new ICT systems. • Redundant Building Scheme support to support feasibility studies, development and conversion costs. Thorpe Farm converted a redundant building into a farm shop, and others have converted barns to work spaces.
Ashby Parva Plant Centre – Benefited from a Rural Visitor Grant
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Supporting the Equestrian Business Economy
A wide range of support was provided in 2007/08 to equestrian related businesses in Leicestershire.
Equestrian businesses have accessed funds to support new equipment, development of websites, construction of stables and manages, and improved infrastructure.
A leaflet was developed in partnership with the Leicestershire Equestrian Enterprise Partnership and Ride Welland to promote horse riding in Leicestershire, which has been circulated to libraries, TICs, and tourism related organisations throughout the county.
A seminar was held in March 2008, attended by over 50 equestrian related businesses. The seminar was coordinated by the East Midlands Riding Industry Development Enterprise (EMRIDE), working with Leicestershire County Council and the existing Leicestershire Equestrian Enterprise Partnership, LEEP. The event highlighted the work of, and promoted, LEEP, whose members work together and meet regularly to raise public awareness of what riding has to offer and where to find quality riding establishments.
A new internet network for Leicestershire equestrian businesses was also launched in March 2008. This business-boosting initiative, which is based on Leicestershire’s successful Food and Drink network - focuses on the county’s wealth of riding facilities and enterprises.
The County Council continued to produce a quarterly equestrian newsletter, providing updates on new developments in the county and a schedule of equestrian events taking place in the county.
Community Outreach
The current remit of community outreach is concentrating on families affected by incarceration, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and young parents. At Glen Parva (Young Offenders HMP) strong links have been developed with the Prison Service to introduce new ways of working with the young men that are Dads including a training course for the Dads on 'practical parenting' and a special 'family visit' for the dad prisoners. Outreach work has also involved working with the mothers and children of these families in their homes. Outreach work has also focused on contributing to a multi agency approach to working with families in the Greenhill area of Coalville.
Market Town Support
Action to improve the viability of market towns and rural centres included: • Living and Working over the Shop and Shop Front Improvements Grant Scheme – This aims to bring life to town centres by utilising vacant upper floors of town centre properties and improving facades. Around £75,000 of Grant was committed/spent in 2007/8 generating £112,000+ of private sector leverage through 30 schemes. By working jointly with the Town Centre Partnerships on promotion of the scheme, together with some District contributions enabled Kates Cookshop in Melton
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Mowbray to have a new shop front and Mc Allister and Ogilvy in Castle St, Hinckley. Following on from the re-paving of Blaby Road South Wigston which was officially opened in November 2008 further shop front applicants came forward including Head to Tails at 15 Blaby Road.
• Streetscape Improvements – 2007/8 was a difficult year as no external funding from the LSEP was drawn in. Work continued on producing Masterplans for Blaby, Melton Mowbray, Oadby & Wigston and Coalville. Ashby de la Zouch has had funding to improve Market Street and in 2007/8 work was completed in Bath Street around the Loudon Monument and in the sensory garden at the junction with North Street .This has The Flower Shop at Earl Shilton - Benefited from a Shop Front Improvement Grant opened up the area making it an attractive gateway into the town centre. Funding was obtained from LSEP for public realm improvements in Upper Castle Street, Hinckley where there are a lot of independent traders on the periphery of the main retail core. By re-paving the area and introducing heritage lighting it is hoped to give the area a boost and create a major gateway to the town centre. Work delayed due to the late approval of funding will commence in July 2008. Funding has also been obtained for re-paving Sherrard Street in Melton Mowbray where again there are many independent retailers. Work will commence in autumn 2008 following major junction works at Thorp End. It is proposed to try and involve public art in the scheme via banners from lamp columns etc.
• Pirates of Leicestershire was taken to 10 settlements throughout the summer of 2006, including Blaby and Lutterworth and drew in at least 30,000 people into the town centres. Following the Skull and Crossbones on the pavement around the town centres to search for clues in the shop windows was very popular as were the 2 life sized pirates and cannon !!! Digging in the sand to unearth treasure was also popular together with many dressing up competitions. Pirates of Leicestershire highlighted the success of partnership working with the District Councils and inter- departmentally between Regeneration, Libraries and Highways. The pirates also went for a ride to Donington le Heath manor house where the children also enjoyed walking the plank! "Seasons Greetings from Leicestershire’s Market Towns” which advertised switching on times of lights, late night shopping and Christmas markets together with speciality shops in each location was produced as a joint initiative with the Town Centre Partnerships.
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• Support continued to be provided to Hinckley Town Centre Partnership to their Business Improvement District (BID) Co-ordinator, as Hinckley is the first Leicestershire town to be working towards a BID. Hinckley is also the only Leicestershire town to go forward to the East Midlands Development Agency’s BID Academy which involves joint working with other towns in the East Midlands at a similar stage. The BID ballot is to be held in October 2008.
• Many town centre partnerships are examining their structure, membership schemes and methods of generating funding to make them sustainable across the county. Hinckley is in the process of becoming the first Limited Town Centre Company of which LCC is a partner demonstrating our commitment to making town centre partnerships self-sustaining.
Supporting the Local Food and Drink Economy
Efforts continued to develop Leicestershire as a centre of food and drink excellence and were supported with a focus on the Regional Food and Drink Festival. This festival celebrates the East Midland’s food and drink culture and heritage to help develop the local economy. Over 20,000 people attended the highly successful fourth festival in 2007. 2007 saw the LeicesterShire Food and Drink Week expanded to a Food and Drink Fortnight following the huge success of the 2006 week. The Leicestershire Food and Drink Fortnight, preceded the festival and involved an array of activity across the county to celebrate LeicesterShire’s food and drink. Following the successful relocation to Brooksby Hall nr Melton Mowbray the fifth Regional Food and Drink Festival will be taking place in October 2008 with the theme of ‘Diversity’, yet again the festival will be preceded by the LeicesterShire Food and Drink Fortnight.
A Food and Drink Network was successfully launched to support the LeicesterShire food and drink economy. It currently has over 260 members and offers businesses an on-line network with dedicated website. In January 2008 we launched the LeicesterShire Food and Drink Directory, compiled to encourage local sourcing, support the local supply chain, highlighting what LeicesterShire has to offer and how it can be accessed. Also a quarterly Food and Drink News and Events newsletter is produced to promote and support LeicesterShire food and drink.
Supporting the Woodland Economy
Since 2005 the Woodland Economy Business Support Programme (WEBS) has helped woodland businesses with advice, grants, woodlands training and support for The National Forest Wood Fair. Support has included:
• Sawmills to process quality timber • Firewood processors to maximise fuel production • Chippers for wood chip fuel, compost and mulch • Kilns to dry timber and make charcoal • Compact handling/haulage equipment to allow access to sensitive woodland sites • Promotion of The National Forest Wood Fair • Wood fuel feasibility studies to grow the market for wood fuel • Websites to promote woodland products and services
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• Woodland skills training including chainsaw; timber framed buildings and log cabins constructed from local timber. • Developing the woodland business network.
Total programme spend for 2007/8 was £125,195 of capital and £95,000 revenue.The outputs for the year included 18 grants given out to woodland businesses, 8 Wood Fuel Feasibilities undertaken, 44 individuals supported with specific woodland skills and11.5 jobs created/safeguarded.
The programme came to an end in March 2008. The National Forest Company and its partners are currently taking steps to secure funding to support the further development of the woodland economy.
General Support for Regeneration Activities
Project appraisal, monitoring and evaluation - In 2007-08 various projects were appraised and were monitored in terms of their expenditure, outputs and milestones on behalf of Leicestershire Economic Partnership, Leicestershire Rural Partnership and Leicestershire County Council.
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PLANNING
The Planning Service delivers the County Council’s statutory role as the Minerals, Waste & County Planning Authority. It prepares the minerals and waste development frameworks which requires the County Council to ensure that there is an adequate supply of minerals to meet national, regional and local requirements and that waste facilities are provided to meet national objectives for waste management in a sustainable way. It links closely with the County Council’s Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy and procurement for waste management facilities. The Service also deals with planning applications for minerals, waste and County Council developments and ensures compliance with planning requirements. As county planning authority it also responds to strategic development proposals and co-ordinates developer contributions for the County Council services. The Service currently leads on airport matters.
In 2007/08 the Planning Service made progress on the Minerals and Waste Development Frameworks. The revised Local Development Scheme became effective in April 2007. Re-consultations on the minerals and waste core strategies were carried out during October and November 2007. Representations were considered and draft submission documents were prepared for submission to Government. The third Annual Monitoring Report was submitted by December 2007 as required by Regulation. Close liaison with the County Council waste procurement process has taken place over the year, and the service has been heavily involved in the Programme Board and projects in order to assist in the delivery of waste facilities.
The service also acted as coordinator for the Department on responding to district council local development frameworks and the Regional Spatial Strategy. It currently provides an input to national debate on minerals and waste policy issues and leads regional fora on waste and mineral matters.
The High Court challenge against the Secretary of State’s appeal decision was not successful. Two appeals were heard in January 2008 against the County Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for two waste developments (Lyndon Lea, Hinckley and Coventry Lane, Narborough).
This year the Service dealt with 452 planning determinations and was consulted on 188 development proposals by the District Councils. The County Council has to meet national Best Value Performance requirements. Overall 88% (compared to 86% last year) of all planning applications determined by the County Council were done so within 13 weeks. Applications known as county matters were determined at a level of 79% (71% last year) within 13 weeks. In terms of the County Council’s own applications, 66% were determined within 8 weeks (64% last year).
Fees for planning applications were increased this year. The fee income from planning applications achieved £285,000 (£165,520 last year) compared to a budgeted income of £151,250.
This year also saw the roll out of electronic submission of planning applications through the planning portal and the development of validation check list. Planning Delivery Grant of £53,920 was awarded for planning achievement.
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A County Council Developer Contributions Officer has been in post since the end of July 2007. The key purpose of the post is to improve the co-ordination, effective management and monitoring of the developer contributions process for the County Council. The post provides the stimulus to pursue opportunities to enhance the overall approach to and value of developer contributions throughout Leicestershire by helping to deliver appropriate community benefits for all by building on the existing working relationships between the County Council and the District/Borough Councils and other service providers.
Asfordby Mine – from moonscape to landscape – planning requires restoration
The Developer Contributions Policy document was partially reviewed during the year and a full review is planned for 2008/09. The post has been successful in developing the data base, bringing in outstanding funds to the County Council and assisting in preparing the County infrastructure plan. Some 205 planning applications were processed for developer contributions during the year and £1.75m of outstanding contributions were brought in and negotiation have secured £2.5m.
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There are currently (for 2007/08) 161 mineral and waste sites within Leicestershire at various stages of activity that require monitoring. Of those identified as requiring a monitoring visit, 33% (53) fall within the criteria as laid down by regulations that attract a fee.
The fees are set nationally at £288 per visit for an active site, and £96 for an inactive site to cover the cost of the monitoring activity. For 2007/08 this generated an income of £28,512. Gas bag to collect Methane – Wanlip
The fee charging regime was introduced in April 2006 and the government is scheduled to review the charging scheme by 2011. The County Council has been asked to assist in that review by ensuring detailed records are kept of the costs incurred in monitoring these sites. Last year (2006/07) 92% of sites achieved their target visits. For 2007/08 this figure is 98%.
Work on issues surrounding aviation continued with the servicing of the Joint Member Airport Working Party.
A replacement for PLANCON was agreed and plans for its implementations are to be drawn up during 2008/09.
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MUSEUMS
• Opening of Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre in December 2007. • 2007-2008 figures show that children in school groups visiting all museum sites increased by over 20% on the previous year. • Adult visitors at Snibston and Charnwood Museums were also up by 20%. • Achieved HLF and other funding for two major projects, the South-East Leicestershire Treasure project at Harborough Museum and “Town & Country in the 21 st Century“ at Melton Carnegie Museum • Museums received nearly 250,000 ‘visits’ to our web pages. • Museums maintained VAQAS accreditation at all sites and achieved MLA accreditation of Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre which is now the only accredited museum on a battlefield in the UK. • 5,000 objects were recorded last year, from detectorists and museum identification under the externally funded Portable Antiquities Scheme.
The Museums Service manages and makes available Leicestershire County Council’s important and unique collections and associated information to as wide an audience as possible. It does this through site museums in most districts: Melton Carnegie Museum; Harborough Museum; Charnwood Museum; Donington Le Heath Manor House Museum and Snibston and Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre. All museum sites deliver a lively programme of exhibitions, activities and events including the highly popular family holiday activities. More widely, Museums reach beyond sites and buildings through its “museums without walls”: – the Collections Resources Centre, where undisplayed collections are accessible, virtual museums including Collections on Line and the Bosworth and Foxhunting voices micro websites, through touring exhibitions, talks, handling sessions, reminiscence sessions and other community- based activities such as the archaeological fieldworkers and warden networks. Snibston, Harborough and Charnwood Museums are provided in partnership with internal and external partners.
The major project during 2007-2008 was working towards the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre which opened in December 2007 and achieving the accreditation standard for the new centre. The archaeological survey project to discover the real battle site has continued and we now expect this to be completed in March 2009. Also during this time we worked towards two further major Heritage Lottery Funded projects, the South-East Leicestershire Treasure project at Harborough Museum and “Town & Country in the 21 st Century“ at Melton Carnegie Museum, successfully winning funding for both. Contributions from other funding partners have also made these projects possible.
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Renaissance in the Regions
The Museums Collections team developed three new work packages during 2008-8:
Working with the Wider Museum Community : working with the Leicestershire MDO to identify ten community museums that would benefit from practical support in terms of collections care and displays. These included Castle Donington Museum, Foxton Locks, Ashby museum, Hinckley Museum and Kegworth. Caroline Lockwood has supported the work of the Charles Moore collection at Leicester University.
Re-visiting Collections: working with former miners, the team have piloted a programme of capturing new aspects of the coal mining collections, which will feed into both the Mining Lives project and the development of the Mining stories at Snibston.
Contemporary Collecting: the team are currently working on a year long programme of collecting especially around themes of sustainable retailing and green issues on the high street
Work continues on collections access with exhibitions in the fashion gallery at Snibston (The Scarf Hoarder), Charnwood Museum and Harborough Museum (Liberty Bodice), responses to requests for images for publication and work on the Leicestershire Landscapes project.
Workforce development: Cali Maxamed, the service’s curatorial trainee under REM’s positive action scheme, has completed his first year with the service and his first academic year at Nottingham Trent University’s Heritage Management course
Collections Care
Collections care and conservation staff worked on objects throughout the service are conserved as required to improve their long term stability in storage or for specific display or exhibitions including the Treasure Project, Melton Re-development, and the Snibston funding application. The Bosworth Battlefield project and preparation for accreditation there was the major task of conservation and collections care staff during 2007. Objects were prepared for and displayed in environmentally controlled and monitored display cases and a store was developed. In addition the final phase of the sugar conservation of the Hemington Bridge Timbers has commenced with the delivery of liquid sugar under the sponsorship scheme with British Sugar in April 2008. (see photos), a Royal Leicestershire Regiment exhibition was arranged and displayed at County Hall.
Impressive progress has been made with documentation of new acquisitions and backlog in the natural life section has been made, for example the Ken Clark insect collections from Leicestershire comprising 4000 specimens and 6000 specimens from Ponchaud, Arthur Smith and Ellerton Lepidoptera collections. Other work has included work with Loughborough Naturalists’ insects exhibition at Ashby-de-la-Zouch Museum, loan of exhibits to a wide range of national and local societies, exhibits for Market Bosworth Festival, Loughborough & Birstall Libraries for BBC 'Breathing Places', sessions for Poetry Workshops and Textile Design courses. Written evidence was provided to the House of Lords select committee on Taxonomy & Systematics,
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addressing the decline in national expertise in these subject areas. In addition a staff member was filmed by the BBC Natural History Unit for their Fossil Detectives series to be shown later this year. There has been a major loan of costume to the Australian Wool Innovation Company exhibition in London.
Key acquisitions during the year:
During the past year another of Leicestershire's industries has vanished with the closure of the Tubes factory at Desford. Timken Alloy Steel donated some examples of tubes and of the ball-bearing components made from them. They have also given us a large oil painting by Mark Ferrow, showing the original Hot Piercing Machine at Desford in operation in 1974.
Brush Electrical Machines revamped their Loughborough Head Offices and as a result donated an important early Brush generator from the 1890s.
Palitoy Pen-pal dolls and an early 1950s Palitoy walking doll with original box were added to the museum’s Palitoy childhood collection which is the largest outside London.
A pair of gold ear or hair ornaments from Gilmorton indicating a rich burial dating before 2000BC.
Gold and garnet pendant from Shepshed; 7th century AD.
Museums have now taken possession of the coins and of most small finds which comprise the South East Leicestershire Treasure, probably the biggest group of Iron Age coins ever properly excavated in Britain. The finds are material from an Iron Age religious site dating from just before the Roman Conquest. The star find from the site is an elaborate Roman cavalry helmet that is currently undergoing conservation in the British Museum Conservation laboratory.
Photographs and ephemera from Harborough and area, including material marking the millennium celebrations in Stoke Albany; an 1888 journal relating to the penny Popular concerts and minute books from the Old Grammar School.
Hymenoptera specimens (ants, bees, wasps) from Leicestershire, collected and donated by international expert Michael Archer.
Learning/Audience Development/Social Inclusion
Museums aim to broaden participation by attracting new audiences, highlights for 2007- 08 were: • The Home & Family Life section delivered over 35 outreach events including reminiscence sessions and talks aimed at bringing the museum to older people as part of the museum’s commitment to life long learning and access for all. This programme was delivered to a wide range of community groups, health care groups and older people in residential care. • Collections handling sessions with local schools, Brownie groups, adult community groups and U3A groups and special needs groups including students from the RNIB
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College and members of the Headway head injuries group. The latter led to a regular series of object handling and art and craft workshops at Charnwood Museum. • 59 public talks on aspects of the social history of natural history and ecology. • Photography at Collections Resources Centre by Hind Leys College 'A' level students will be shown in an exhibition at Loughborough Town Hall this summer. • Charnwood Museum attracted new visitors via the Big Knitting Workshops; it was also involved in the Holocaust Memorial Day and in an honouring the Ancient Dead ceremony held at the request of the Loughborough Council of Faiths and the Charnwood Grove of Druids.
Bosworth Battlefield
The Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre was opened to considerable acclaim in December 2007. Visitor figures and retail income are at encouragingly high levels. Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre is now the only Museums, Libraries & Archives Council accredited museum on a battlefield in the UK. The HLF-funded archaeological survey to locate the 1485 battle has continued and is producing a detailed picture of the medieval landscape around the battle area with a report to be produced by Glenn Foard later in 2008. A Collections Access Assistant has been appointed to archive the finds from the survey and integrate them into the museum collections.
Charnwood Museum
Charnwood Museum achieved over 50,000 visitors during 2007-08, an increase of nearly 13% on 2006/07; school visits are also continuing to increase whilst special events took place at Charnwood Museum on 260 different days of the year; 4730 people attended workshops at the museum, an increase of 34% on 2006/07.
During 2007/08 a refurbishment project was undertaken at Charnwood Museum to replace interactives and increase accessibility of several displays. New hardware was purchased to improve interpretation and access to the textile industry displays, accessibility of the museum’s oral history listening posts was improved by the purchase of 3 new robust handsets with integral inductive couplers for hearing aids, the soundtrack for the Bakewell listening post was re-recorded to be better presented, the education room was redecorated, gallery lighting and hanging systems renewed.
Some of the earliest metal objects ever found in Britain were put on display for the first time when the archaeology displays were refreshed. Rare Neolithic (4,000 year old) jewellery was displayed along with 3,000 year old Bronze Age bracelets, and the Anglo- Saxon Shepshed and Sapcote Pendants. Temporary exhibitions included the Lacemakers’ Story: Loughborough, Luddites and Long Journeys” created by the Friends of Charnwood Museum, “the Big Sock Show.” (partnership project with Charnwood Arts), “the Toybox” summer holiday interactive exhibition which inspired the summer holiday activity programme. The Museum continued it’s work with local art groups including holding exhibitions by ArtSpace, The Charnwood Painting and Drawing Club, Cinnabar, and the Second Turning Textile Group as well as exhibitions by individual artists.
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Harborough Museum
Visitor figures at Harborough Museum were up by 7%. Harborough’s most exciting project is the Southeast Leicestershire Treasure Project. This involves purchase and conservation of the Treasure, display and interpretation as well as promoting involvement of community groups and volunteers. Discovered in 2000 by the local fieldwork group, there are 14 excavated hoards of coins and associated finds including a Roman helmet, ingots, tankard handle, jewellery, pig bones and pottery. The finds come from a ritual enclosure site, dating from the late Iron Age, which is the first site of its kind to be excavated by archaeologists. The local community were actively involved in the excavation and preservation of the site and continue to be involved in this project. There will be permanent displays at Harborough Museum, a long term exhibition at Hallaton Museum, two touring exhibitions (one for larger museums and one for smaller venues), and web based resources including information and activities for schools and an online catalogue of the finds. The exhibitions and online resources will be available in 2009; the displays in Harborough Museum will open Spring 2009. The Roman Helmet is undergoing conservation treatment at the British Museum and that work will take four years.
Against this background Harborough’s routine work has continued. The local teachers' group continued to meet in the Museum and helped museum staff to continue to develop active learning sessions for schoolchildren. The group has also developed and launched the Lost Workforce teachers’ pack, picking up from the Contour and Cream project it encourages schools to visit Harborough Museum to learn more about the Symington factories in Market Harborough. The Friends of Harborough Museum continued to meet in the Museum and began work to install a display about the railways in Harborough. Exhibition topics have included the Women’s Land Army, the introduction of gas and electricity to Market Harborough and creative works from the Write:Muse project. The Museum celebrated the Market Harborough Historical Society’s 75 th anniversary with a display featuring items from the Society’s collection. Events included summer holiday craft activities for children, storytelling and dancing dolls, Christmas Shoppers’ Evening, and the annual History In and Around Harborough Conference.
Melton Carnegie Museum
Much of 2007-08 was taken up with preparation of a submission to Heritage Lottery Fund for a Community Development project “Town and Country in the 21 st Century”. Funding was secured for a ground floor and first floor extension to the existing building to include a new gallery on the ground floor with community archive to support local; history research and community facilities’ on the first floor. This will virtually double the size of the existing museum.
Meanwhile the regular work of the museum has continued with a diverse programme of activities, events and exhibitions have supported further audience development and visitor numbers for the year were 15, 000 which represented a 5% growth on the previous year. In addition a small oral history project has commenced in partnership with East Midlands Oral History Archive. “Taking Part” will, over the next four years, record sporting activity in Melton and the surrounding area.
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The work is being undertaken in support of the Cultural Olympiad and will be added to the community archive at Melton Museum.
Donington le Heath Manor House
23,830 visitors were recorded in 2007-8, a small decrease on last year accounted for by the very poor summer weather which particularly affected the outdoor events programme at the site. Over 25 events were held at Donington during the year, including re-enactments, open air theatre, early music concerts, an archaeological day linked to an excavation on the site, school holiday activities and half term events. The support of the Friends for events and for the general work of the site has continued to be outstanding. The site maintained VAQAS (Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Standard) accreditation and has been entered for Green Flag and Green Heritage awards.
Snibston
An exciting development programme for Snibston was launched in August 2007 with a Project Management Board and 9 task teams involving staff from across Community Services Department. Co-ordinated by the Snibston Curator, this has brought together three development schemes with the intention of implementing them over the next 5-10 years, subject to funding and resources: Mining Lives, the Great Outdoors and the Technology galleries. A major bid is to be submitted in September 2008 to the Heritage Lottery Fund to progress the Mining Lives scheme which focuses on mining heritage.
Snibston has been developing a number of partnerships including the National Forest, North West Leicestershire District Council, Institution of Structural Engineers, Loughborough University and a number of community organisations.
Temporary exhibitions in Snibston's Community Gallery have included displays by the Coalville Photographers Group, Ibstock Art Club and the 8th Annual exhibition by students at King Edward VII Science and Sports College. Meanwhile the Changing Room in the Fashion Gallery has housed over 200 classic design pieces in the Scarf Hoarders exhibition and 25 years of NEXT at Snibston.
Snibston had 94,000 visitors and over 4,000 people attended Snibston's 15th Birthday weekend in June 2007.
A Project Co-ordinator for “Mines of Memory” was appointed and began work in December 2007. This project, with funding from HLF, aims to record new oral history interviews with a range of former employees of Snibston and Whitwick collieries. It will gather together information and collections which will be used in future displays and interpretation of the former Snibston Colliery Buildings. The project will also make an additional selection of mining objects from the County’s museum collections available through the Collections Online resource. There will be a small exhibition about the history of the collieries and the end of the project will be marked by a "Miners Gala" event at Snibston in September 2008.
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Community Archaeology
The Section continued to work closely with Leicestershire Museums Archaeological Fieldwork Group to support 28 local groups around the county, with training sessions held for around 60 people. The Leicestershire and Rutland Archaeological Network was supported by 193 Parish Councils and Meetings (69.4%). Archaeology Section staff gave 31 talks to 1,422 people. The team organised an excavation by Time Team at Stonton Wyville in July 2007 and were well represented in the finished TV programme that went out on Channel 4 in February 2008.
For the first time the Section co-ordinated the Leicestershire and Rutland part of National Archaeology Week. Events increased from around 6 to over 20 and this was mentioned by the CBA as national best practice. A leaflet was produced and distributed and a publicly accessible excavation was undertaken at Donington le Heath Manor House in Partnership with the Fieldworkers and the Friends of Donington. A conference on The Archaeology of Medieval Leicestershire was held at County Hall in partnership with the Fieldworkers and was attended by nearly 150 people. This will lead to a publication recording the present state of knowledge on this subject.
Scarf Hoarders Exhibition at Snibston
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Shepshed Pendant Coins Discovered in South East Leicestershire
Birthday Celebrations at Snibston Sugar Delivery at Snibston
Costumed Characters at Donington -le -Heath
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ARTS AND OUTREACH
Arts and Outreach is particularly well placed to lead in addressing a range of social and cultural agendas. The Service is not site based, although a number of its activities take place in museums and other venues. Many activities are supported at community venues across the county such as village halls, arts venues, libraries, schools, colleges, universities. Arts and Outreach comprises the following teams and their work is described in more detail below:
Arts Development
Works with a range of partners such as community organisations, artists, arts organisations and creative businesses, local authority and key strategic agencies.
Provides opportunities for artists to develop businesses and practice and for community groups to plan arts activities with professionals from the sector. It provides access to professional performing arts and cinema in rural settings, support and funding for festivals, events and other arts activities with communities in the county. It provides organisational, strategic and funding advice for arts and community organisations and business advice and support for creative businesses (through Creative Leicestershire).
In 2007-2008
Centre Stage, rural touring theatre scheme - 134 professional theatre performances, programmed and promoted by volunteers, took place in rural venues across Leicestershire to audiences of 10,000. 276 complimentary tickets were taken up by Looked After Children and their Carers.
Centre Screen, rural cinema scheme - A total of 89 screenings took place in rural venues across Leicestershire, programmed and promoted by volunteers. We worked with Phoenix Arts and EM Media to secure funding which puts Centre Screen on a more sustainable footing for the next three years and enables it to be rolled out as Big Country to Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire.
Shire Grants - 10 Arts Development grants were awarded totalling £8,638 which enabled recipients to realise projects worth £261,964. Projects funded included activities such as: Ashby Arts Festival, a theatre piece looking at body issues and self- esteem which toured the County, a new one-act opera premiered in Harborough district, a contemporary visual arts project in a disused quarry in Shepshed, all of which contributed to an exciting and dynamic range of arts activities across Leicestershire.
Dance Development - Funding was successfully applied for from Arts Council England and the Lankelly Chase Foundation to match fund contributions from all local authorities across the sub-region for a 3-year strategic dance development post who will work with practitioners and communities from 08-11 with a focus on disabled people, young people and older people.
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Classical Music - We began to look at working strategically with Orchestras Live, North West Leicestershire District Council, Charnwood Borough Council and Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council on music projects with community groups in LAA priority neighbourhood areas. We also funded concerts as part of the Heather Music Festival and Market Bosworth Festival.
Arts & Older People Project - A pilot project was commissioned by LCC’s Adult Social Care Service with support from Arts Development. Charnwood Arts ran a project in the borough exploring the potential for direct payments to be used by older people to access arts activity as an alternative to using more traditional day care services. It demonstrated the positive benefits of older people participating in arts activity.
Visual Arts - A regional report, “Made Visible”, was led by Leicestershire and Derbyshire and is shaping developments in the visual arts in rural areas for the future.
Snibston Arts Vision - Artist/consultant Maurice Maguire produced an arts vision for Snibston (called “Transform”) that places the arts in a significant role in the development of Snibston.
Regeneration - Worked with Regeneration team and Mantle Arts on two projects to improve bridges in Coalville. Further schemes are now planned.
Creative Leicester Shire
Core local authority funders in Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland continue to fund the programme until March 2011. 2 bids for 3-year funding 2008-11 were successful - Arts Council England for £143,056 and Leicester Shire Economic Partnership/emda for £159,727.
An emailing list of 1344 businesses at March 2008 Send information regularly to 170 students and 73 lecturers/academic staff 586 attendances at our networking events and seminars 57 people had one-to-one support from us 428 businesses were part of showcasing projects and directories 24,075 visits to our main website
Established 3 directories to support marketing of local creative businesses: www.madeinleicestershire.org.uk had over 100 artists, makers and galleries listed online by March 2008. www.artslinknetwork.org.uk is an online resource and printed directory of some 80 participatory artists/media companies, running workshops and projects in a whole variety of settings. www.leicestershirecreatives.org.uk was being prepared to launch in 2008/9 and is a directory of creative services for business.
Bursary awards of £2000 per business were won by 15 Cactus Sculpture by businesses in October 2007. We continue to work with these Bursary Winner Tom Hare businesses on their development plans until June 2008.
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Community Museums
• Continued to support over 45 independent museums across the County and in Rutland and the City of Leicester, in partnership with the Leicestershire and Rutland Museums Forum. This work now forms part of the Renaissance East Midlands Museum Development Programme. • 22 SHIRE grants worth a total of £9,900 awarded to independent museums in the county to help the museums improve curatorial standards, create exhibitions, digitise collections, deliver improved talks and lectures using new technology, and as match funding towards education projects. • Continues to support large development projects in the county, for example the development of a brand new Heritage Centre in Diseworth that has received over £500,000 of lottery funding. • The Community Museums Officer continues to support museums in achieving museum accreditation (So far this year, 2 independent museums in Leicestershire have achieved accredited museum status) and continues to plan the annual Heritage Awards, Leicestershire County Council’s annual celebration of the work carried out by volunteers in small museums across the county. Heritage Awards winners • Leicestershire is leading and managing the Museum Development network across the region as part of the Renaissance East Midlands programme. The network comprises a Network Manager, Leicestershire’s Community Museums Officer and four Museum Development Officers, covering Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. All of these posts are modelled on the LCC post of Community Museums Officer. These staff offer professional advice, information and support to the wider museums community by developing special initiatives, helping lever in external funding and by helping museums achieve nationally recognised standards. A Regional Grant Fund of £100,000 supported projects at 60 museums throughout the five counties.
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Learning and Inclusion Team
Supporting Schools • This year saw the continuation of the work of three members of staff funded by the Renaissance in the Regions Programme. This has resulted in a significant expansion of support for schools with dedicated Learning staff now covering Donington le Heath Manor House, Charnwood Museum, Snibston (schools and under fives) and Bosworth Battlefied. • During 2007/2008 staff developed over 36 new resources or activities for schools as well as major events for schools such as Science Week, Under Fives Days at Snibston and themed weeks at Donington le Heath eg Tudor Christmas. • Staff have also been developing new outreach activities delivered in school in response to commissioned research into Teacher‘s expectations of Museum Services. During 2007/2008 over 38 outreach sessions were delivered. This figure is likely to be expanded during the forthcoming year. • In 2007/2008 4,829 children visited Donington and Charnwood Museums, 7,444 visited Bosworth Battlefield and 16,970 visited Snibston. 31,322 children visited a County Council run or supported museums across the County. • All Learning Officers have continued to be engaged with developing SEN provision through extended projects with 4 SEN specialist schools or units. 9 staff members are now trained in the use of the Makaton signing system. Opportunities to support exclude young people with Autism have been developed through the Autism Outreach Team.
Improving quality • A termly newsletter for Donington le Heath has been introduced and booking systems for Donington, Charnwood and Snibston improved. • Customer questionnaires have been introduced to capture feedback on levels of satisfaction and impact on learning. At some sites satisfaction levels are running at 100%. • The Learning Support Officer is now trained in the use of the MLA national Schools Participation Database. • A training and personal development programme has been put in place for all freelance Project Leader staff. • One member of the Learning Team has been very closely involved in the major redevelopment of the exhibition centre at Bosworth Battlefield. • Team members have also contributed to the development of Heritage Lottery bids for Melton Carnegie Museum and Snibston. • Innovative approaches to learning have been piloted through the initial development of a schools PDA project, movement sessions for babies at Snibston and a literacy- based dual site workshop linking Bosworth Battlefield and Donington le Heath.
Developing Partnerships • Strong links have been forged with a wide range of partners including the Children and Young People Service Early Years Team, 2 Children Centres, Bookstart, the Early Years Autism Team, The Science Learning Centre, Creative Partnerships, Loughborough University Faculty of Science, The City Learning Centre (Leicester) and the Institute of Structural Engineers. • At Snibston partnership links helped attract additional funding in excess of £15,000.
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Open Museum - Moving Objects
Performance and uptake • Moving Objects displays have reached 58,979 people within non-school venues in Leicestershire. • Total usage in County and City venues amounted to 65,909. • A total of 62 bookings were made to county and city venues excluding schools. • Moving Objects reached a total of 23 new venues during the last financial year, including the following districts: Charnwood (4), Leicester City (2), Harborough (5), Hinckley & Bosworth (5), Melton (2), North West Leicestershire (3), Derbyshire (1).
Working with priority groups • 41.67% of all bookings made from January 07-March 08 have been for people with learning disabilities. • 2 informal half-day training sessions aimed at staff and volunteers who work with small groups of people with learning disabilities have been developed and offered at Snibston and Melton Carnegie museums. • 58.34% of bookings have been made by venues in the three most deprived districts in the county, namely: Charnwood, NWL and Hinckley and Bosworth. • 22% of all bookings have been made by venues in parts of the county with a higher than average proportion of the population having a BME background.
Exploring the Beauty Myth handling collection
Partnership working • Partners working with the Moving Objects scheme this year have included Creative Partnerships, the Cultural and Creative Ambassadors scheme, Leicestershire County Council Valuing People team and the Leicestershire Partnership Trust.
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Open Museum – Projects
Write Muse The Write:Muse project continued which working with learning providers to encourage creative writing through the use of museum objects and artworks. Achievements for this year include: • Art exhibitions at Hinckley Library, Melton Library, Harborough Museum and Charnwood Museum based on the outcomes of the collaboration between Write:Muse writers, and community artists. • 5 county-wide Write:Muse workshops using the collaborative exhibitions (above) as inspiration. 25 participants attended, including previous Write:Muse participants and their learners. • A Write:Muse workshop at the Every Audience Matters , the Group for Education in Museums (GEM) Conference 2007. Very positive feedback for the event was received and over 25 delegates from all over the British Isles attended . • A Write:Muse event with Creative Partnerships, for trainee teachers at the University of Leicester. Over 100 PGCE trainee teachers attended and feedback was again extremely positive. • Extensive preparation for the new ‘Words and Things’ publication which aims to ensure the expertise and experiences gained during the Write:Muse project becomes available as a resource for learning providers. Artwork produced at a Write: Muse workshop
Artworks and Resource Box
Performance and uptake • An estimated 6,310 school schoolchildren benefited from the artworks scheme this year. • In total 15,573 people at 31 venues were engaged with 230 Artworks. • 1696 Resource Box loans were used by 141 organisations, primarily schools, amounting to a total of 20,304 usages.
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Development projects • In 2007/2008 the Artworks scheme received funding from the MLA Renaissance in the Regions Programme to enable artists to develop activity sessions in schools using works form the Artworks Collection. The project involved four artists working intensively with 8 schools from across Leicestershire and Leicester involving primary and secondary schools and one specialist SEN school. An evaluation and recommendations report has been produced and from this it is hoped this pilot can form the basis of a new service to schools in the future. • New schools loans boxes entitled ‘Artboxes’ were developed to provide ideas and inspiration to teachers for using Artworks from the collection. • 10 new Resource Boxes based on different faiths were developed through funding from MLA Renaissance in the Regions Programme. Boxes covered Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism the Sikh religions. • In a joint project with the Libraries Service 10 boxes were developed celebrating the County’s international links with Sichuan province in China. The boxes built on relationships with a number of Sichuan schools and reflected the tradition and culture of the region. 5 additional boxes based on the Terracotta Army were also added to the collection.
Exhibitions and partnerships • August 2007 – Annual Artworks Exhibition at the Lutterworth One Stop shop. • Staff from Resource Box established links with Gartree Prison, the Royal Infirmary, LOROS and the Fosse Neighbourhood Centre.
New Commissions • Four new works were commissioned form the artists involved in the mentored use of Artworks in schools project mentioned previously. • A sculpture of a fox was commissioned from Sally Matthews initially for the members lounge at County Hall and it will eventually be available to schools through the Artworks collection.
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RECORD OFFICE
Performance Indicators
Headlines for the year, comparing 2006/07 with 2007/08: • Visits to the Record Office increased by 6.2%. • Webpage visits increased by 4.9%. • Email/postal enquiries (chiefly e-mail) increased by 22.7%. • Though the number of researchers using the Record Office remained almost stable (12650 this year, 12705 last year), the number of items they consulted increased by 10.9%. • There was an increase in 5.1% in the number of items conserved. • There was a 14.8% increase in the number of talks and a 19% increase in the attendees over last year. • There was a 70% increase in the number of volunteers in the Record Office this year.
Collections: Archives
Highlights of the year included records of: • The charity Mosaic (formerly the Guild of the Crippled), c. 1899-2000 • Photographs of the Leicester Regiment in India and copies of lantern slides of the Leicester Unemployed March to London 1905 • Additional estate records of the Shirley family, including early medieval deeds from the 12 th c.
An approach from Wyggeston’s Hospital trustees asking for their archive catalogue to be brought up-to-date has led to a great deal of additional material arriving at the Record Office pending sorting and ordering.
Collections: Archive catalogues online
Monthly figures for visits to the online catalogue have doubled, from 1905 in April 2007 to a record 3999 in February 2008. Visits increased sharply in early 2008 and now consistently total over 3000 per month. These figures highlight the growing demand for this type of access.
Collections: Local Studies Library
Highlights of the year’s acquisitions included: • Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury : 1864-1900 on microfilm (as a result of on- going cooperation with Stamford Mercury Archive Trust and local library services). • Donations of local fine printing from Rigby Graham. • 75 sound recordings were added, including a number of CDs of Asian – mostly Gujarati – music produced by the Sona Rupa company of Belgrave Road, Leicester.
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Conservation
Some 14,438 pages of damaged books and documents have been treated this year (an increase from 13,733 pages in 2006/7). Highlights included: • 19 th c and 20 th c Leicester Corporation records ‘discovered’ in the Town Hall. • Preston, Rutland, churchwardens’ accounts, 1596–1792, and overseers of the poor, 1646-1796.
• Ashby Museum’s maps and plans: a special conservation project In partnership with Ashby Museum, and with a grant from the AIM/Pilgrim Trust Conservation Grant scheme, work is beginning to conserve some important maps and plans in urgent need of preservation.
Storage
The space problem at Wigston grows ever more acute, and the volume of material coming into the office does not lessen. Plans for storage expansion and additional facilities on the Wigston site have been drawn up, and other options on the County Hall site are being explored urgently.
Standards and Approvals
The Record Office is required to meet national standards of collection management and access, including approval by The National Archives (TNA). In 2007, we achieved 2 stars out of a possible 3 (as in 2006) with an overall score of 67% (up from 65% in 2006). We scored well in Governance and Resources (71.5%) and in Buildings, Security and Environment (74.5%), but less well on Access (57%), which we need to address.
Modern Records
Some 5462 files were booked out, with a peak in June 2007 (814), which marks a substantial increase over 2006/7 (5142). Ann Coltman, who had been in charge of Modern Records for many years, retired in February 2008, and her former assistant, Jean Griffith, replaced her.
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Access: Website
The Record Office web pages have been developed substantially over the last year, and administration staff have been trained as website editors. The exhibition The Long Road to Freedom about slavery and its abolition has been added, as has a major outreach project, Exploring the Legacy of Partition, 1947/48 , which has an interactive element, giving people the opportunity to tell their story on-line. Retail sales figures have also benefited from website advertising: from £4999 in 2006/7 to £5726 this year.
Outreach: Exhibitions
Highlights from the exhibition programme this year were: • The story of the local struggle for Women’s Suffrage 1866-1914 , to mark the centenary of the founding of the Leicester branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union. • Moving Here : the stories of people who fled to Leicester from Uganda in 1972 - a partnership project with Leicester City Museums, funded by Renaissance East Midlands. • Passing Muster : an exhibition on the history of the Militia in Leicestershire and Rutland on its 250 th anniversary. • Horsing Around: a 2,000 year old love affair , ranging from the pre-historic horse, through to the Image from the Women’s horse in the 21 st century in Leicestershire. It was Suffrage exhibition complemented by a stunning piece of horse armour created for the exhibition by local craftsman, Julian Adams.
• The Long Road to Freedom , the Record Office’s contribution to the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, has toured continuously during the year, as have two smaller versions of the exhibition. • A celebration of the 900 th anniversary of the Gild of Freemen of Leicester, commissioned by the Gild.
Outreach: Talks/presentations/workshops
There was a 14.8% increase in the number of talks and a 19% increase in the attendees over last year. The biggest audiences of the year were the U3A in Great Glen and in Kibworth (about 60 each), and a ‘slavery’ session for 50 gifted and talented schoolchildren from Crown Hills Community College, Leicester, at the Pumping Station.
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Outreach: Community archives
The three main activities have been Celebrating Gypsy and Traveller Life in Leicestershire , a partnership project with Leicester Museums, funded by Renaissance East Midlands, collecting oral histories, documents and photographs for digitization from local Gypsy and Traveller families. Exploring the Legacy of Partition was one of only 28 projects nationwide to receive Lottery funding in the first round of Their Past Your Future 2 programme. It aims to collect the memories of people who lived through the
Partition of India, 1947/8, and who now live in Nellie Boswell telling the fortune of the mayor Leicestershire. The third activity has been of Liverpool. From the ‘Celebrating Gypsy related to the Leicestershirevillages website . and traveller Life’ project.
Record Office staff have continued to respond to history enquiries, to contribute information on the history pages of this website, to organise and host promotional events and to inspire volunteers to sign up for training.
Supporting Teaching and Learning
The last year has seen great progress for the office, starting with the Strategic Commissioning project in September (funded by MLA East Midlands) in partnership with Abington High School in Wigston. In November 2007, the Record Office embarked on another MLA-funded project entitled YCC - Young Cultural Creators . The results demonstrated both high standards in historical accuracy and literary production. Three examples of the work of the young people were chosen as exemplary and presentations were made at an organised event. The Suffragettes exhibition was used by PGCEd students at Leicester University to create new teaching resources for secondary schools.
Volunteers
There was a 70% increase in the number of volunteers in the Record Office this year, from 17 in 2006/7 to 29. There have been significant benefits for our work, such as a new computerised database of Leicester building plans for the period 1849-c.1891 and other developments.
Staff
Carl Harrison, Chief Archivist from 1991, retired at the end of March 2008. Margaret Bonney, Assistant Keeper of Archives at Wigston since 2001, has been appointed as Chief Archivist.
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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
The Environmental Action Team covers a wide range of work including landscape design and planning, sustainable development, countryside management, managing LCC tree preservation orders and a range of community orientated environmental grants.
Recent landscape design projects include the Earl Shilton Bypass, Bath Street and a new sensory garden in Ashby de la Zouch, Blaby Road South Wigston, Castle Street Hinckley plus park and ride schemes at Enderby and Birstall. Landscape planning comments were also provided on over 240 planning applications and highway alteration consultations.
Landscape Planning works have been undertaken at both county and sub-regional and regional levels. The Team has led on the Charnwood Forest Regional Park Initiative with partners including the three District Councils, National Forest Company, Natural England, EMRA and GOEM. An initial public meeting was held in June 2007 and an update meeting in December. Policy development has included the development of a single policy approach for incorporation in the Local Development Frameworks. With the financial support of both EMDA and EMRA a landscape consultancy contract was let to both help fill-in gaps in the current landscape characterisation of the Charnwood Forest area and also inform the development of new planning policies for this strategically significant location.
The management of the County Council’s Tree Preservation Orders saw staff process over 112 applications to undertake works to protected trees as well as answering numerous tree related queries from members of the public.
Various Team members are also heavily involved with the development of Strategic Green Infrastructure (SGI) across the area of the 6Cs Growth Area (Leicester, Leicestershire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire). Works in this area included the shared development of successful SGI bid to central government for over £1.3m for SGI in the Growth Area, and joint working on the establishment of a SGI Advisory Board, developing frameworks for commissioning consultancy work and assessing grant applications and, advertising for a SGI Development officer.
In the Greater Leicester area the Stepping Stones Project, (a formal partnership of the 5 District Councils around Leicester) completed the production of a “Green Infrastructure Delivery Plan” and an associated “Action Plan” to help progress environmental works in its area. These two documents will play an important role in helping develop green infrastructural works across the project area, support funding bids for it and guide the project’s future work.
The project also successfully ran a range of activities and events during the year including a successful grants scheme and the first ‘Wildlife on Your Doorstep’ event at Watermead Country Park. Stepping Stones officers supported by other team members also run the countywide “Tree Wardens” scheme. Supporting the189 Parish based volunteers with training courses, newsletters and the opportunity to participate in the “free tree” scheme. Last year Tree Wardens from 16 parishes took up the challenge to plan and plant “free trees” in their area.
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Works on the Enderby Wood were successfully completed with trees being planted on sites as diverse as the Police Headquarters and the local golf course.
The Team leads on work for the Authority on Sustainable Development, provides the secretariat for Enable (Environment Action for a Better Leicestershire) and co-ordinates the work of the County Green Team. During 2007/08 work with Enable included the completion and publication of the Action Plan for the Climate Change Strategy, which was approved by the Leicestershire Together Board, the preparation and launch of the Leicestershire Together Declaration on Climate Change, a very successful annual conference in which climate change was the core theme and produced a series of newsletters keeping the Enable membership in touch with each other.
Corporate work included a successful bid to the Carbon Trust to be included in the Local Authority Carbon Management Programme (commencing in June 2008). Support was given to the 5 Member Scrutiny panel which completed reports on Environmental Procurement and Environmental Leadership which were approved by the Cabinet. Work on Environmental Targets, County Hall Waste Audit and Action Plan and Water and Biodiversity will continue into 2008/09. Considerable input was made into the Sustainable Community Strategy and the LAA2 negotiations through the Cleaner- Greener Group.
The feasibility study into the use of Anaerobic Digestion schemes in Leicestershire was completed and a grant support scheme launched. A Climate Change Green Gym was held to highlight actions that individuals can take to reduce personal contributions to climate change. Following a workshop with the Corporate Management Team, agreement on an appropriate approach to environmental risk management was reached which will be rolled out over the year ahead.
Other team members supported countywide Community based environmental improvements grants schemes. In 2007/08 there were: • 19 FLAG schemes supported with grants amounting to some £300,000, • 24 SHIRE Environment Grants awarded; with grant offers of £127,658 . • 2 Asfordby Grant Schemes with grant offers of £12,845.
With all of these schemes, as well as processing the applications themselves, team members also provided wide-ranging assistance to individual applicants to help improve their schemes, gain outside funding etc. This support is much appreciated by applicants and is one main reasons why the SHIRE Environmental Grants satisfaction survey achieves such high levels
Rights of Way Team . The Rights of Way team has been co-ordinating a number of programmes to provide a better user experience for the public accessing the countryside. The second year of Local Transport Plan funding was successfully implemented with area based network improvement schemes being carried out in Loughborough West, Hinckley and Oadby. The Parish Waymarking schemes continue to be implemented and the areas completed during the year are shown on the Plan.
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Gap, gate, stile is a new initiative aimed at removing barriers along paths. It is making paths more accessible to a wider range of the public including the old and young. Over the year 364 stiles were removed (1 a day) and, where possible, gaps left. Where a gap can’t be left new easy access gates are being installed. 265 hand and kissing gates were put in this year.
Pointing the way ahead are the new roadside fingerposts. 100 new posts have been financed via the Local Transport plan to show the start of paths near and within urban areas and local destination information. This is part of a wider programme that is focused on and around built up areas. The vast majority of residents in the county live in urban areas and more than 90% of properties are within 500 metres of a right of way.
The last year has seen more than 4500 new works being carried out on the rights of way network. Just over 2000 of these were for new or repainting the brightly topped waymarker posts that have proved so popular.
The year also included a successful bid to EMDA to improve a range of paths across Charnwood Forest and the start of a programme of path enhancements in and leading out of Country Parks.
Performance on the Best Value Indicator 178 which measures the Ease of Use of the Network declined from 78% to 73%. This appears to be an anomaly based on the low sample size and a changed surveyor. We are confident from what our users (particularly the Ramblers Association) tell us, that the network continues to improve but we will continue to monitor the figures (even though the indicator has now been dropped from the National Indicator set). To help with this process, 377 paths were inspected as part of the crop monitoring programme over the year. This has resulted in all of the paths inspected being clear during the summer months.
The Leicestershire Local Access Forum met 7 times during the year and has now met all the key targets that the Government established for it during its formation. The Forum has also raised its profile and held a significant conference on the subject of Green Routes for New Urban Growth. It is also working on extending its work with Districts and input to the formation of policy documents including the Local Development Frameworks. Further details on the group can be found at www.leics.gov.uk/laf
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Encouraging people to enjoy their local paths has continued to be a focus for work, linked to the path improvements programme. There are now 37 Walk and Rides leaflets in this popular series. Longer distance routes and Walks around principal attractions are also produced. These are all now available for downloading from the website at www.leics.gov.uk/paths . This is part of our continuing efforts to more effectively provide a one stop shop option for the public wanting to walk or ride on paths or parks managed by the County Council. Last year’s Walking Festival was run from Bosworth Battlefield Country Park.
Working closely with the Country Parks Team and the Highways, Transportation and Waste Management Department we were successful with getting a range of proposed improvements to the network in and around Watermead Country Park included within Sustrans’ ‘Connect2’ bid to the Big Lottery. Following a significant local campaign and with a lot of local community support we heard in December that the bid had been successful and that some £700,000 of grant will be forthcoming over the next 5 years to improve the network.
The Definitive Map has continued to be updated and improved to meet new requirements. The Rights of Way digital information is being enhanced to allow it to be used with more detailed mapping and in conjunction with other systems and partners. The new data is also being made available to the public directly through the web site and other organisations that show the data, such as the Ordnance Survey. Parish Councils can also be supplied with maps for their area.
The legal process of formally adding and removing paths from the map and diverting others continues. 41 Public Path Orders were completed during the year and 11 Modification Orders, including attending several public inquires.
Country Parks Team
The highlight of the year was the opening of the newly renovated Heritage Centre at the Bosworth Battlefield in November 2007. The new centre has been very popular with visitors and numbers and satisfaction levels have been high. Elsewhere around the Parks the very wet summer meant visitor numbers were down on the year. Attendance at events suffered. Most notably the Medieval Weekend at Bosworth Battlefield had to be cancelled for the first time ever. More successful was The National Forest Woodfair which was again held at Beacon Hill Both numbers of stalls and visitor numbers were up on last year. The high quality standards maintained on the Country Parks continued to be recognised with national awards. Green Flags were awarded for Beacon Hill Country Park and Market Bosworth Country Park and VAQAS (Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme) awards made for Bosworth Battlefield, Snibston and Donington-le- Heath.
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The Management Plan for Beacon Hill was reviewed during the year and the new cycle/horse track substantially completed. Good progress has been made on managing Sites of Special Scientific Interest with heathland work continuing at Beacon Hill and woodland management at Sheet Hedges Wood.
A Bird Feeding Station was opened at Market Bosworth Park. Conceived, designed and constructed by a group of young people, it has proved to be a very popular attraction on the Park.
At Watermead Country Park there was a modest extension of the reed bed and improvements made to the northern shore of King Lears Lake to allow model boaters, triathletes and the Newfoundland Dog Rescue Team easier access to the water. The Connect2 Forum met a number of times during the year and planning for implementation of cycle ways was well advanced. One dilemma at the park is the balance to be struck between the ease of access that is desirable for all and the health and safety concerns from unauthorised motorcycle use, which can be a problem at urban edge sites such as this. Allowing easy access for cyclists and wheelchair users is highly desirable and we are therefore commissioning a disability audit to advise us on the standards we should use for the site and the Connect2 project for the future. The plans for a joint development of a Visitor Centre with mosaic, an organisation representing disabled people., unfortunately had to be abandoned as the necessary match funding could not be raised. It is now proposed to build a smaller Visitor Centre for Watermead Country Park. Planning has begun with the anticipation that development is implemented in 2009/10.
At Snibston Discovery Park and Beacon Hill a number of National Forest Gateway features (picnic tables, shelters and interpretation panels) were installed in partnership with the National Forest Company. Plans for the redevelopment of Snibston were progressed with an initial investment in an all weather footpath being completed.
The rationalisation of land holdings within the Country Parks Estate, to reflect the reduced budget available, was pursued and negotiations with a number of sympathetic landowners were commenced.
Historic and Natural Environment The Partnership for Environmental Protection (PEP) had a successful first year in running the new 3 year contract. District participation has increased and significant additional ecological survey work has been commissioned in North West Leicestershire District and Hinckley & Bosworth Borough. The work needed to ensure that Local Planning Authorities are appropriately informed for the work they need to undertaken for the Local Development Frameworks is now largely in place. The Community Heritage Initiative successfully completed its fourth year and again exceeded its targets in all areas. The importance of its work was recognised in the Local Government Chronicle Sustainable CHI volunteers at work Communities Award in which the project was highly
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commended and in the LGC Awards for Community Involvement in which the project was short listed. The project continues to be seen as a flagship project by the Heritage Lottery fund. SHIRE Historic Buildings Grants were issued to 37 applicants and grants totalling £28,700 were offered to 37 schemes. The Rural HERS (Historic Economic Regeneration Schemes) which closed during the year offered 4 grants totalling £13,868. The replacement scheme, the Melton Planning Scheme in Conservation Areas (PSiCA) which is run in partnership with English Heritage and Melton Borough Council offered 9 grants from the County Council totalling £21,097 from the total grant offers of £70,318. Work on the Historic Landscape Characterisation project, part funded by English Heritage, made good progress (80% of the county is complete) and its results are being used within the planning process. 347 Monument records have been added to the Historic Environment Record supervised by the team, including Iron Age field finds, new historic sites found from aerial photographs and a 19th century windmill. The work archaeological planning advice work continues across the county . The ecology database at Holly Hayes reached the 300,000th record during the year, and 87 Local Wildlife Sites have been designated. The survey of North West Leicestershire and the results have already contributed to the LDF process - 28 Red Data Book species were found during this survey. The discovery of a breeding colony of the Violet Carder Bee was a first county and UK record for this large and brilliantly coloured species. 54 geological sites were mapped during the year so they can be added to the RIGS website.
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STAFF DEVELOPMENT
In September 2007, a volunteer coordinator was appointed to the Community Services Dept with suitable skills and experience to explore the development of a cohesive and comprehensive volunteering programme within the Department. Initially the post was temporary for 12 months and was originally attached to Environment & Heritage, Arts & Outreach. The role was designed to have both a developmental and a strategic aspect when viewing the Council’s volunteering programme.
Over the past two years, the increasing importance of volunteering in the Sustainable Community Strategy and the Local Area Agreements (LAAs) requirements has showed the Council the need for developing a more consistent volunteering programme, based on national guidelines of good practice. Volunteering is now a major cross cutting theme in LAAs and its increasing priority within national government shows the role volunteering has in developing a Volunteers at Swannington Heritage Trust healthy community and encouraging active citizenship.
A preliminary audit of volunteering activity within the Dept showed gaps in consistency and uncertainty around volunteer management by staff. A set of protocols and procedures was drafted, designed as a foundation document to provide a consistent and practical approach to volunteer management, combining the principles of good practice with the current County Council policies. Additionally, recommendations were made on how volunteering could become embedded at a strategic and planning level and a draft handbook for prospective volunteers was created.
The Dept also wished to extend external links and contact with relevant groups and agencies enabling suitable development of its volunteering programme. To this end, the Volunteer Coordinator has been working with groups such as Leics Volunteer Centre Network and a number of individuals, run an initial training course and, with other Council staff, planned a promotion event around volunteering for CSD staff.
Leics CC is one of a few councils to recognize the benefit of encouraging volunteering so local people to get involved with the Council and taking positive action. The Council’s recognition of volunteers’ contribution, valuing the improvements volunteers make in delivery of its services and its desire to be at the forefront of good practice is extremely encouraging and gives a positive message to the local voluntary and community sector and especially local people.
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MARKETING AND MEDIA REPORTING
Media Reporting
The Service produced 51% (2% more than previous year) of all press releases from Community Services, which meant a total of 247 stories written during 2006/2007 generating 854 press cuttings. This equates to an average of 3.4 for each press release written.
With 161 stories produced, the Museums Service provided the majority of articles (up 19 on the previous year). Coverage for museums was, however, down on the previous year, from 546 articles written to 481.
Country Parks also saw a slight drop in the number of press releases compared to last year and also a significant drop in coverage. For Bosworth Battlefield, however, the column inches and profile of coverage continues to increase along with greater TV coverage.
Snibston saw a slight increase in press releases from 29 to 32 but a reduction in cuttings from 134 to 106. However, in contrast to last year there has been less TV coverage and less column inches for some articles, with the majority of articles and impact appearing in the Coalville Times.
For other parts of the Service there was a decrease of press releases by 8 to 40 and not much change in cuttings from 110 to 107.
Literature and Distribution
The Events Guide continued to be the major promotional tool for the Service. In addition, Leicestershire Matters, the County Council's newsletter, demonstrated its importance in bringing in new users to Service events and activities. A newsletter for Donington was trialled in April and a new generic museums guide has been produced and distributed during the summer which will be evaluated during 2007/08.
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FINALLY
This Report provides an overview of key activities and achievements during 2006-2007. We are committed to continually reviewing and seeking to improve our service delivery, and welcome your views and feedback.
If you would like to discuss aspects of this Report, please contact us:
Mick Fattorini Arts and Outreach - Tel: 0116 2670001 Email: [email protected]
Peter Williams Environmental Management - Tel: 0116 305 7080 Email: [email protected]
Yolanda Courtney Museums - Tel: 0116 305 6642 Email: [email protected]
Lonek Wojtulewicz Planning - Tel: 0116 305 7040 Email: [email protected]
Margaret Bonney Record Office - Tel: 0116 2571080 Email: [email protected]
Heather Broughton Head of Environment and Heritage - Tel: 0116 305 6781 Email: [email protected]
www.leics.gov.uk/index/community/community_services.htm
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