To receive questions from members of the public who wish to ask a general question in respect of matters within the Council’s area of responsibility or influence.
Subject to the Chair’s discretion, members of the public may ask one question and one supplementary question, which should relate to the original question and answered received.
Councillors may also ask questions under this agenda item.
Minutes:
(1) Councillor Sylvester asked the Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion about the Civic theatre. Councillor Sylvester stated that the average price for tickets, during the autumn programme of events, was £16.88 with an average discount for children, students, Rothercard users, senior citizens and the disabled of 52p or 3.1%. There were a number of shows that did not offer any discount. Councillor Sylvester asked the Cabinet Member if he believed that a 52p discount was something that would encourage residents from deprived groups or neighbourhoods to take part in what should be a social and cultural norm of attending the theatre?
The Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion stated that the Council needed to do everything it could to ensure that all communities were engaged with all available cultural offers around the Borough, be that the theatre, museums, other events. The Cabinet Member stated that he would be doing all he could to ensure that there was that level of engagement by different means, be that admission prices or working with the community devolved budgets to ensure that all communities are supported.
In his follow up question, Councillor Sylvester asked whether the Cabinet Member could monitor the attendance for the autumn programme (September to November) to see if capacity was at 100%. He also asked whether work could be done with the theatre on postcode harvesting to ascertain what areas of the Borough ticket holders were from. This would help identify gaps between deprived and less deprived areas and allow questions to be asked about what more can be done to help.
The Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion explained that he would be happy to request the information that was held subject to data protection regulations in order to identify areas where participation levels were lower and ascertain way to improve engagement.
(2)
Councillor Sylvester asked the Cabinet Member for
Jobs and the Local Economy about how COVID-19 was causing many
commercial property holders to look at their portfolio’s and
re-evaluate their use. For example, a property on Main Street
recently put in a planning application for a change of use.
Councillor Sylvester asked how flexible the Town Centre Masterplan
was to include changes of use from commercial to residential?
In the second part of his question, Councillor Sylvester asked
about the library move and what would happen to the library space
in Riverside House. He also asked whether the change from office
working to homeworking could lead to the Council looking at its own
commercial properties for residential development?
In the final part of his question, Councillor Sylvester asked how
the Town Centre Masterplan was working with the new Forge Island
Development and the good existing night time economy in Rotherham
Town Centre?
The Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy explained that she was happy to sit down and talk to any Member about the Town Centre Masterplan. It was also explained that there would always have to be flexibility in the Plan so that it could adapt to any changes. Through the Local Plan process, the Council had changed some of the land allocations in the Town Centre from commercial to residential. This had caused the footprint of the Town Centre to shrink. Planning applications for change of use from commercial to residential in the Town Centre were being supported which reflected the change in the makeup of town centres across the country.
In response to the second part of the question, the Cabinet Member confirmed that a review was underway regarding all of the space at Riverside House, not just the library area. This was through the Asset Management Board who had noted the importance of town centre based workers as they were vital for the town centre economy.
In response to the final part of the question, the Cabinet Member confirmed that she did sit on a number of groups and sub-groups for the Town Centre who worked with local businesses and private developers to support the good night time economy. It was important to have everyone on board for the redevelopment of the Town Centre.