To receive updates from the Head of Culture and Leisure Services on the recent Jubilee celebrations in Havering and preparations for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Minutes:
Jubilee Celebrations
The head of culture and leisure services reported that Jubilee events had been geld in Havering over a four week period. This included the Big Dance Weekender event in Hornchurch which attracted both older people and children to try ballroom dancing and an open air cinema although the attendance at this was lowered due to the poor weather on the day.
A diamond jubilee market was held on Saturday 28 June and the Romfest event was held on the Sunday. This was however affected by the very poor weather on the day which limited attendance to 2-300. The carnival procession on the day went well. A fun run and sports festival was held in Raphael Park as well as the lighting of a beacon in Havering Atte Bower. The Langtons concert on Tuesday 4 June was attended by 2-3,000 people. Members complimented the head of service on the jubilee events which they felt had been very well organised.
There had been approximately 90 street parties across the borough which was more than many other boroughs. Two open spaces – Brittons Playing Fields and Park Lane Recreation Ground were to be designated as Queen Elizabeth II Playing Fields. This would give the sites extra protection in the planning process and would mean it would be very difficult to develop housing on the sites in the future. Veolia had agreed in principle to fund £25,000 of improvements at each site and the Council was also bidding for national funding for this work.
There would also be a small land swap involving the Dukes Hall car park but the officer confirmed that the same amount of open space would be retained. Further details of the land swap would be supplied to the Committee. Reported problems in the park had now been reduced by the work of the Parks Protection Team.
Olympics Preparation
The head of service reported that a total of £16.5 million of Olympic contracts had been won by Havering businesses. Robust planning had been undertaken for major incidents during the Games period in order to ensure the safety of Havering residents. An emergency planning C3 document had been produced which covered the responsibilities of the Council and Police. 4-5 emergency planning exercises had taken place to allow for planning for different scenarios.
An emergency planning operation centre had been set up in Mercury House which would be in place before the torch relay reached Havering. This would be staffed from 7 am to 7 pm but there would also be on-call arrangements overnight.
It was explained that Havering was in the Park Zone led by Newham and there would be the expectation of cross-borough support in case of Olympic incidents. The Police borough commander was a member of the Havering Olympic Board. Havering Police would provide a normal service during the Olympic period but may have to cover any Olympic-related incidents elsewhere. More use would be made of PCSOs should this occur.
As regards day to day impact, there were no Olympic training venues in the borough although the A13 through Havering was part of the Olympic Route Network with the A12 as a back up route. It was possible that one lane of the route may be set aside for travel to Hadleigh Farm in Essex, the venue for the Olympic mountain bike event. The Olympic cycle training route ran through Havering for a distance of 400 yards only.
While it was uncertain how many people would stay in Havering, fewer tourists were now expected overall. The proposed campsite in the borough had been cancelled as it had received significantly fewer bookings than expected. There were some concerns about visitors to the Games parking at stations in Havering. Streetcare would open car parks for longer hours and were also looking at using local schools to provide additional parking facilities. There would also be more parking controls in place, especially around transport hubs.
Local businesses had received a lot of advice from Transport for London regarding arrangements during the Olympic period and a number of workshops had been held. Only a few Council services would be affected by the Olympics with possible issues for services such as street care and safeguarding. It was expected that there may be issues with staff who needed to travel through the Stratford area but flexible working and arrangements for working from home were in place for staff.
An augmented safety advisory group had been formed comprising the Council, Police, Health Trusts etc. which dealt with groups wanting to hold large events in Havering. This had improved planning and prevented some events that had not been though through such as the proposed campsite at Gidea Park rugby club.
The Olympic torch relay would visit Havering on 22 July and it was felt that, if the weather was good, there could be in excess of 100,000 people viewing the torch as it passed through the borough. The route would enter Havering via London Road and visit Romford Market Place, South Street, Hornchurch, the Rainham area and Rainham Hall. Two major celebrations were planned – at Romford Market Place and by the Queen’s Theatre with a large event also planned in Rainham. A total of 43 torch bearers would carry the torch through Rainham although not all of these would have a connection to Havering, for example the famous pianist Liang Liang would carry the torch for one leg.
Significant investment had been made in crowd control measures for the torch relay. A total of 83 volunteers had been recruited to help on the torch relay and it was hoped to raise this to 100. Stewards were also being employed. The head of service confirmed that a lot of investment in both time and money had been required to ensure successful management of the event. Some costs would by paid by the Olympic Organising Committee (LOCOG). There would be a large entourage travelling along with the Olympic torch.
The relay was expected to have an impact on areas such as trading standards who aimed to prevent sale of illegal goods, environmental health and street care who would be repairing any potholes along the route. The Council was trying to purchase two torches for display in Havering Museum and the local studies centre.
The Council was also working closely on Olympic preparations with the health agencies. As regards community safety, 6,000 troops would be camping in Hainault during the Games and it was possible that army personnel could come into the nightlife area of Romford. Community safety and the Police were aware of this.
A number of partner organisations were involved in the risk assessment process for events. The Council was available to provide advice and support. Checks were not run on people joining LOCOG’s Olympic Leaders scheme but there was no evidence of any problems with this scheme in Havering.
Maximum numbers had been set at the three main torch relay events and Council staff would try to prevent more people from entering if these numbers were reached. The head of service reiterated that a lot of planning had been undertaken for the torch relay events.
3-400 unaccredited Chinese media would be based in Havering during the Olympics and had hired the former Albermarle Youth House as a media centre. The journalists would be encouraged to spend in the local economy and it was therefore hoped to bring an overall benefit to the borough.
Members expressed a wish to meet with the Chinese media, perhaps in conjunction with the Mayor and the officer agreed to check if this would be possible.
The visitor kiosk in South Street had been well used and the staff working in the unit had been very positive. The head of service agreed to obtain figures for the numbers of people using the kiosk.
The Committee NOTED the update,