Agenda item

Communications

To consider any communications to be submitted by the Mayor or the Chief Executive.

Minutes:

(a)          Glassworks

 

The Chief Executive reported that the Glassworks had won the prestigious ‘Regeneration’ award at the Planning Awards 2021 last month.  The Planning Awards were one of the most coveted awards within the property industry and rewarded excellence in professional planning, placemaking, urban design and economic development.

 

A diverse panel of 20 judges said that the Glassworks was ‘a great example of how strategic development and targeted investment could play a huge part in revitalising a local economy’.

 

The Glassworks, which had already seen Barnsley Markets, Market Kitchen and Library @ The Lightbox open, would be compete later this year.  Led by Barnsley council alongside their Development Partner, Queensberry, the scheme was significantly enhancing the town centre’s retail and leisure offer, as well as creating high quality new community spaces.

 

The Chief Executive extended her best wishes and congratulations to the whole team in this remarkable achievement.  Some members of the Team were present in the meeting this morning.

 

Councillor Sir Steve Houghton CBE (Leader of the Council) was extremely pleased to be here today and learn of the success in achieving this award as he had been present when the Glassworks was first mooted.  Everyone knew that this project had taken longer than anticipated but it was great that this scheme was now coming to fruition.  This scheme had been through huge iteration in the public mind and questions had been asked as to what the Council was doing and why and, of course, there had inevitably been scepticism that it would never happen. 

 

This was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, logistical exercises the town had ever been though as the town had had to be kept functioning at the same time as the works were being undertaken.  That in itself had been a huge achievement.  There had been a lot of discontent about the building works but slowly and surely, public attitudes were changing and now that they could see the end product was not too far away, it was amazing what comments people had made even from the workmen on site, many of whom were Barnsley residents.  Indeed, some of them had built the previous scheme over 40 years ago.  The works had been successful in allowing apprenticeships to be established for local people as well as providing work for other businesses via the supply chain.

 

It was great that the scheme was coming to a conclusion, however, the work did not stop there as there were other areas within the town centre that needed support.

 

He concluded by thanking the Team and all involved for all the work they had done in achieving this award as this had not been easy as the Council had coped with the financial crisis and the Covid pandemic.  The scheme not only looked and felt great but would also have a massive impact on the town centre economy and beyond.  He also extended thanks to all Members who had been on this incredible journey.

 

Councillor Markham thanked everyone involved in this fantastic achievement.  She commented that she had the great privilege, whilst Mayor of the Borough, in officially opening The Library @ The Lightbox and the Market Kitchen.   She was incredibly proud of the fact that the Glassworks development had enabled Barnsley to retain its market town heritage.  She thanked everyone on the Council who supported it, the market stall holders who had put up with the disruption during the building works, the workmen and staff who had enabled the scheme to be delivered.

 

The comments made were also echoed by several other members including Councillors Wraith, Greenhough, Platts (Cabinet Spokesperson for Adults and Communities) and D Higginbottom.

 

Councillor Stowe in expressing his thanks and congratulations also made reference to the successful redevelopment of the Library into a first-class facility particularly in view of the concerns previously expressed by some at the loss of the previous library which he felt was not fit for purpose.  He was delighted to see the vision coming to fruition

 

Councillor Kitching in echoing the comments made expressed her concern at the reliance of retail in the new scheme particularly in a changing retail environment.  However, she stated that whilst she obviously preferred Penistone there were now, nevertheless, good reasons to come into Barnsley for leisure and for food and drink.  It was wonderful to see the improvements made and she looked forward to further developments.

 

The Mayor in expressing her own congratulations to all involved commented on the recent Fun Day a couple of weeks ago when she had the pleasure of being in the town centre along with her husband in seeing the actual buzz on a Saturday morning with everyone enjoying being out and about, the activities on offer and people spending money locally.  She understood that the market traders were on a high and couldn’t wait for the remainder of the scheme to be completed as they knew it would bring in people from outside of Barnsley.  She was really looking forward to the future developments in the year ahead.

 

The Mayor and Members of the Council expressed their thanks and congratulations to all concerned in the usual manner.

 

(b)       Barnsley Museums

 

The Chief Executive was delighted to inform Members that Barnsley Museums had recently received two national awards

 

·         They had been voted highly commended in the Museums and Heritage Awards 2021 in the ‘Best use of Digital’ category alongside the National Gallery of Scotland with the National Portrait Gallery being the overall winner

 

Their outstanding work in delivering a creative and engaging digital programme helped people connect with Barnsley’s history, collections and stories during the pandemic and enabled them to be recognised alongside National Museums

 

·         They had also won the Association for Industry Archaeology (AIA) Community Engagement Award.  The judges had been particularly impressed by the Team’s commitment to finding out what local people wanted from the project at Elsecar and for involving those aged 14 to 25 from the area

·         As well as this they had been shortlisted for an Association for Heritage Interpretation Community Engagement Award for the ‘Allegories of the Senses’ exhibition which was co-curated with people with Autism

·         The Service had also been awarded a grant of £95,000 from the Arts Council for an exhibition at the Cooper Gallery and the borough wide arts programme based on the children’s character ‘Elmer the Elephant’

 

Praise should go to the whole service for the concerted efforts to deliver excellent award-winning services and adapting services despite challenging circumstances and to the following people for their role in securing these awards:

 

Sue Thiedeman, Lyn Dunning, John Tanner, Tegwen Roberts, Devinia Skirrow, Michael Hardy, Sam Goose, Ailsa Robinson, Alison Cooper and Gaby Lees, and from the Barnsley Museums Heritage Trust, Cath Longley.

 

(c)        Art Fund Museum of the year Finalist

 

The Chief Executive was pleased to inform Members that Experience Barnsley was one of five finalists in the prestigious Art Fund Museum of the Year Awards.  This was a UK wide award but was the biggest museum prize in the world.

 

The winner of the prize would be announced on the 21st or 23rd September, 2021 at a live awards ceremony to be featured by the BBC.  The winner would receive a prize of £100,000 and the four remaining finalists would receive £15,000 each.

 

This recognition would rise the profile of Barnsley and the thousands of people who had donated, shared memories, visited and made the museum such a wonderful place to visit and all could be very proud.

 

The whole Team had worked with dedication and passion to deliver excellent results for Barnsley and its communities and they all deserved thanks and congratulations on this fantastic achievement.

 

The Mayor commented that these were remarkable achievements particularly in the light of the difficulties of the last 18 months.  What the service had done to engage with communities was outstanding and she expressed her congratulations to all involved.

 

Councillor Osborne commented that in 2014 he had run a community event in Middlecliffe to commemorate the miners who came out of Great Houghton Colliery to fight in the first World War.  From the beginning of this project he had worked with the Barnsley Museums Service and members of staff came along on the day to collect all records and aural history from the community.  The Museums Service wasn’t about stuff that was behind a glass case, it was about people’s history.  The Service had gone out of their way to make themselves a people’s museum.  He had been into the Museum on his way to this meeting and the exhibitions were amazing but, at the same time worrying as he was now seeing things on display that he used to handle.  He expressed his congratulations to all involved and encouraged them to keep up the good work.  This was a people’s museum for Barnsley.

 

Councillor Richardson commented that this was a Museum to be proud of and it had ‘followers online’ across the world.  Staff had worked hard to maintain the standards, activity and interest throughout the lockdown.  He was also a Trustee of Cooper Gallery and it was pleasing to note that displays were changed regularly.  The Service was something to be proud of and he wanted to thank all staff who were involved.  He had also been involved with the Archives Service for a number of years.  The Service was not the biggest in the country, but it was certainly the best.

 

Councillor Lamb, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place (Environment and Transportation) expressed his thanks and congratulations to all who had been involved in what had been a very long and hard road during the Covid pandemic.  Working alongside Councillor Cheetham, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place (Regeneration and Culture), he heard a lot of the detail behind developments, the struggles, the elation at successes and the tears and frustration when things did not go as planned.  He was aware of the tremendous work that took place in order to gain the success and achievement in being given these awards.  To be a finalist alongside two national galleries was absolutely stunning and also to be an Art Fund Museum of the Year Finalist as well was outstanding and beyond the wildest dreams.  However, the Council was beginning to expect such successes as it was so good in all that it did.

 

He remembered the Council’s plans for the Town Hall and the scepticism that had been forthcoming from some, but it was now pleasing to be able to say that the investments were worthwhile and appropriate.  The vision for Barnsley had been right and the success of the Service in these awards and nominations proved it.

 

Councillor Platts, Cabinet Spokesperson for Adults and Communities, added her thanks and congratulations at the achievements.  To be in the top five in the Art Fund Museum of the year awards as an outstanding achievement.

 

Councillor Sir Steve Houghton CBE, Leader of the Council, commented that a few years ago he had been privileged to go to 10 Downing Street for an awards ceremony for something that the Council had won.  Whilst he was there, he had been introduced to the Leader of a major County Council who had expressed a less than favourable view of the town which sadly still persisted in some areas even today.  He had then expressed his displeasure at such comments.

 

Councillor Houghton stated that he was proud to be Leader of this Council and to be the Leader of Barnsley.  He was proud to have been born here and to come into the town every day of the week.  One of the things that the people of Barnsley were proud about was their history.  The establishment of Experience Barnsley had not been his idea but had been that of Councillor Hayward who unfortunately was unable to be present today.  Councillor Hayward had led the initiative together with a group of likeminded people form the community and this had led to the establishment of Experience Barnsley which was something to be proud of.  It was a fantastic facility and was a good reason to come into the town even if people went nowhere else.

 

What Experience Barnsley had done was to enable the Council and the people of Barnsley to celebrate and recognise the past but it also allowed people to move on to the future.  People often said, ‘don’t forget where you come from’ and the Council hadn’t but the town was now moving on to create a new history which would also be celebrated in Experience Barnsley.

 

The museum wouldn’t work without the staff who had done an amazing job before the Covid pandemic to get the service up and running and the footfall to where it should be and to make it the success it had been.  To do then what they had during the pandemic and to use it to keep people going through the last 18 months and support them and give them a reason to get up in the morning and particularly those who were on their own and isolated was an amazing achievement.  The Service had been maintained during the pandemic, unlike some other councils, as it had a huge impact on the culture of the town and its future.  It also had an impact economically, on broadening people’s minds on what Barnsley could be for the future and on young people in giving them self-belief and self-confidence.  This impact should not be underestimated.

 

It was great that the Service was winning awards and particularly when compared to other organisation that had huge amounts of funding and this was astonishing.  He hoped that Experience Barnsley won the Art Fund Museum of the Year award but if not, the Museum was still a winner in his eyes simply by doing what it had done and achieved.  Staff should be so proud of what they had done as the Service, Museum, Cannon Hall and Elsecar Heritage Centre and all other facilities made Barnsley a great place to live and work.

 

The Mayor and Members of the Council expressed their thanks and congratulations to all concerned in the usual manner.

 

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