HEWLETT-PACKARD Kenilworth Christmas Lights 2017 The future of our lights Written by Cllrs Marilyn Bates and Richard Hales June 2017 BACKGROUND Kenilworth Christmas Lights Committee (KCLC) was formed in order to manage the infrastructure and accounting of the lights each year. The management of it is complex which is why it was deemed better to be run outside of Kenilworth Town Council (KTC) although its members are made up of Town Councillors, business people from the town and a representative from Warwick District Council (WDC). The Chairman is usually a member of KTC. The Committee is responsible for requesting donations from businesses around the town, which in 2016, amounted to £16,034.00: £12,500 of which went to WDC for managing the event and the installation of the lights using their company choice of ‘Highlight’. Up until mid 2016 the Town Centre Manager ran the meetings and liaised with WDC but when this role was withdrawn from Kenilworth the Chairman took over the meetings. THE COMMITTEE Cllr. Richard Hales (Chairman) Cllr. Marilyn Bates John Bausor Jonathan Holland Sue Powell (Treasurer) Morris Bond James Deville (WDC representative for 2017) LIGHT SWITCH-ON EVENTS There are historically two switch-on events, one in Warwick Road and one a week later in High Street. The atmosphere and events themselves are very different with Warwick Road being judged as a family event and High Street as a more sociable, mature event. The lights in High Street are not in need of change and are very in-keeping with the area, however the same cannot be said of Warwick Road. It is probably the one thing about Kenilworth that everyone complains of. The current lights have been in place for many years and they are old analogue lights which are not very bright, many of which don’t work. An improvement was made in 2015 to light up the Clock Tower but the Christmas Tree was placed in front of it which didn’t help to show it off to advantage. A further improvement was made in 2016 with the Clock Tower lights and lights in the trees on the island behind the Clock Tower which was much commented on. However it was still felt that with Warwick Road being the main thoroughfare through Kenilworth the lights do not do justice to the town. 2017 IDEAS AND PLANS Early in 2017, the Committee asked Jonathan Holland to come up with some ideas of how the lights could be improved, bearing in mind that Kenilworth can never be like Leamington and have festoon lighting due to the varying heights of the buildings. He came up with some wonderful ideas, particularly of lighting the trees in Abbey Fields to join up High Street and Warwick Road. On 25th January, there was a meeting at the Holiday Inn, led by Dave Butler of WDC, open to all residents. 44 people turned up and were split into groups, all being asked to come up with ‘things they like about the lights’, ‘things they don’t like’ and ‘what can we do to improve them’. Most groups came up with very similar things but every group had 5 things they like and don’t want to change High St. – leave, it’s lovely!! Clock Tower – lights good and it’s not hidden by a tree Tree lights on island behind clock tower St. John’s tree (although needs better lights) Mistletoe lights around Smalley Place However, the lists of ‘don’t likes’ and ‘improvements’ were long and informative and gave the Committee food for thought. A complete list of comments is attached at the end of this report, in Appendix A. The Chairman invited four companies to bid for improving the lights based on suggestions, i.e. more colour, lighting the whole length of Warwick Road, a festoon light where we can have one, lighting Abbey Fields etc. The companies were Millenium Quest, MK Illuminations, Blachere and Turnock. All four companies ruled out lighting Abbey Fields due to lack of significant electricity and the centres of the trees being very overcrowded i.e. only the bases would be illuminated. MK Illuminations is better known for lighting big shopping malls and although they have some wonderful lights they were ruled out. Millenium Quest’s proposals were very good but they are expensive and they are based in Kent which we considered too far away if we had a problem. Blachere and Turnock were both very good quotes but Turnock came in slightly cheaper and included a pre-lit Christmas Tree, they are based in Birmingham and therefore almost local! RESULTS The Committee chose Turnock to implement the town’s new lights: WARWICK ROAD, ABBEY HILL, BRIDGE STREET Starting at the Warwick Road gyratory new lights will be attached to all lampposts except 3, due to CCTV cameras. The lights are the new LED type which are very bright and very colourful; they will go all the way up to Abbey Fields with a further 11 in Abbey Hill and a further 11 in Bridge Street, to extend the lights from High Street. Note: It may not be possible to light Abbey Hill and Bridge Street this year due to poor electrical connections around Abbey Fields, however this will be an on-going project and will be completed over the next couple of years when electricity in Abbey Fields has improved. TALISMAN SQUARE Although Talisman Square is owned privately the Chairman has spoken to the owner and obtained permission to hang icicle lights along the canopies to the north and east of the shops in the Square, extending them to the shops in Warwick Road, from Costa to the Hairdressers. The Chairman has also obtained permission to set up a skating rink in Talisman Square, in place of the car park, for three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), of the weekend of the switch-on. This will be a one-off event due to changes taking place in Talisman Square starting in 2018. ABBEY END Abbey End will be the heart of the switch-on. Icicle lights will hang from the shop canopies and the trees will be lit with coloured lights. There will also be a pre-lit Christmas Tree here. LEYES LANE AND OAKS PRECINCT Having listened to the townspeople, who would like to see the outer areas decorated, Leyes Lane shops and the shops in Oaks Precinct will be hung with icicles and the trees lit. SPONSOR BANNERS One of the biggest complaints from townspeople was about the banners around the Clock Tower. Sponsor names will be highlighted on the wall next to the furniture shop in Abbey End. SWITCH-ON EVENTS High Street switch-on is currently planned for Friday the 24th December and will not be changed in any way. The Warwick Road switch-on will be moved to late Sunday afternoon, currently planned for 3rd December. The Skating Rink will be open from Friday 1st December to Sunday 3rd December, with Saturday 2nd December being one of Kenilworth’s free parking days. The stage will not be set up in Abbey End Square but will be nearer to the Holiday Inn. Although WDC were specifically asked not to use Touch FM for the switch-on event, they have invited them to run it again. In 2016 there were many complaints of too much advertising, particularly referencing the main sponsor, Bloor Homes, and not enough about Kenilworth. The Committee believes that it can manage the switch-on event much better by recruiting people with the right skills onto the Committee. The lights are installed by a WDC chosen contractor and there were many problems in 2016 with High Street lights not working immediately (and staying on longer than was necessary) and many lights in Warwick Road not working. Again the Committee believes that a local contractor could install the lights at a cheaper cost and be available on-hand to test and fix any problems. The children’s rides will all be in Warwick Road The stalls will be set up around the roundabout by the Holiday Inn. We are led to believe, by WDC, that there will be fewer stalls than usual and priority will be given to Kenilworth businesses and charities. FUTURE WDC is the main organiser of Kenilworth Christmas Lights with the Lights Committee being predominantly an advisory and fund raising group, therefore, as a town, we have no control over the ordering of lights, the switch-on or the event and the types of suppliers that are used. This is in direct contrast to Leamington Spa and Warwick who are both directly controlled by their town councils and partners. In order to resolve the Christmas Lights issues and the long term viability of the committee it is the ambition of the Lights Committee that the Kenilworth lights and events will, in future, be similarly run. If WDC continue to manage Kenilworth lights and events, which are not in their own long term strategic plan, the committee are concerned for the future of Kenilworth Christmas Lights. ESTIMATED COSTS The cost for the lights from Turnock is £19,000.00 p.a. for 3 years. A total of £57,000. This includes a 7 year guarantee, insurance and storage. It is envisaged that some of this cost will be raised via donations from the businesses within the town. Kenilworth Christmas Lights 2017 -APPENDIX A RESULTS FROM CHRISTMAS LIGHTS WORKSHOP – HOLIDAY INN, 25th JANUARY 2017 STRENGTHS OF CURRENT LIGHTS High St. – leave, it’s lovely!! However one group complained that they should have been turned off earlier.