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10. EUROPEAN, BRITISH OR SCOTTISH PIPE BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS BID

The Council Executive considered a report (copies of which had been circulated) by the Head of Area Services advising of a potential bid by Bathgate & West Highland Games Association (BWLHGA) to hold the 2013, 2014 and 2015 European, British or Scottish Pipe Band Championships in Bathgate and to seek approval to support the bid by financially underwriting the event at a capped level.

The Head of Area Services explained that the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association (RSPBA) was responsible for organising the major national and international Pipe Band Championships i.e. World, European, British and Scottish and that the hosting for these events was decided through a bidding process.

The report went on the explain the scale and benefits from hosting such an event and included the experiences of Belfast who were currently hosting the European Championships and who had hosted the Scottish Pipe Band Championships for the past nine years.

The Head of Area Services further advised that the Bathgate Bid would emphasise the public/private partnership between Enterprising Bathgate, Council and Visit West Lothian and would highlight the town’s strong links with piping. Key elements of the bid were summarised in the report and included information on local facilities, local transport, accommodation and financial support for the bid. The current proposal was to hold the Championships the week after the West Lothian and Bathgate Highland Games which would allow for some of the costs to be shared.

Advisors from Business Gateway and Visit West Lothian had met the Bid Team to support the development of their business plan. The business plan would concentrate on demonstrating broader viability of staging the championship and had been developed to support and inform the final bid document. Once the championships had been awarded then the plan would be further developed to cover the more detailed aspects of the operational planning.

The largest item of expenditure was the payment to the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association for prize money, organising the event and marketing to the bands via their website. The main source of income would be ticket sales, sponsorship and fees for pitches on the day. Sponsorship of £10,000 had already been agreed with a well known local company and it was anticipated that total sponsorship in excess of £25k would be generated for each of the three years.

Bathgate and West Highland Games Association intended to submit their final bid document to the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association in late January/early February 2012.

It was recommended that the Council Executive :- DATA LABEL: Public

1. Note the proposal from Bathgate & West Lothian Highland Game Association to host the 2013-2015 European, British or Scottish Pipe Band Championships in Bathgate and the potential economic and social impact of the event on West Lothian; and

2. Agree that if the bid was successful, the Council would financially underwrite the event, capped at £30,000 per year for each of the 3 years 2013, 2014 and 2015 to cover any potential annual losses which directly resulted from staging the event and which could not be covered by the reserves of Bathgate and West Lothian Highland Games Association (currently £30,000). Additionally the Council would be asked to indicate their backing of the bid in a letter of support which be used to strengthen the bid to bring the championships to West Lothian.

Decision

To approve the terms of the report but only on the condition that the event did not coincide with the Bathgate Procession.