Agenda item

The Committee is asked to consider the information provided and decide if it wishes to make any recommendations.

The Committee considered a report setting out information on both the redevelopment of Fairfield Halls by Brick by Brick and the ongoing operation of the venue by BH Live. A tour of the venue had been arranged for the members of the Committee prior to the meeting. The following were in attendance at the meeting for this item:-

·         Councillor Oliver Lewis – Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure & Sport

·         Shifa Mustafa – Executive Director for Place, Croydon Council

·         Colm Lacey – Brick by Brick

·         Neil Chandler – BH Live

·         Natasha Bucknor – Talawa Theatre Company

·         Sheree Vickers – Savvy Theatre Company

The first part of the item focussed in on the refurbishment of Fairfield Halls, with it confirmed that the current estimated cost for this was £42,600,000, with the project having been delivered by the Council’s development company, Brick by Brick. It was also confirmed that cost of the redevelopment had been met through the release of land around the venue for other development and had not required direct funding from the Council.

It was highlighted by a member of the Committee that the original budget for the redevelopment of Fairfield Halls had been £30,000,000 and as such it was questioned why this had increased to £42,600,000 and whether any further increases were expected. In response it was confirmed that no further increases were expected, although the final accounts were still to be signed off with the contractor on the project. There were two main reasons for the increase, the first being design developments during the project such as upgrading the sprinkler system to meet current fire safety standards and secondly unforeseen issues such as the discovery of a significant amount of asbestos which required removal.

In response to a follow up question about whether any further capital expenditure was planned for the venue in the coming eighteen months it was confirmed by the operator, BH Live, that no additional financial expenditure was planned at this stage. It was advised that as part of the ongoing upkeep of the venue the Council would occasionally need to make further investment, but there were no planned works at this time.

Regarding the value of the land funding the development, it was confirmed that this was based on the current valuation which included the development of approximately 420 homes on the site. The previously proposed scheme was for a development of approximately 200 homes. As a result of the increased densification of the site, the value had risen to cover the full cost of the redevelopment.

In response to a question about the key risks identified at the outset of the project it was confirmed that asbestos had been identified. Work was undertaken to investigate the level of asbestos present in the building which established that it was located throughout. Despite this preliminary work, once the redevelopment commenced the level of asbestos found in the building was greater than expected.  A decision was taken to completely remove asbestos from the site rather than encapsulating within the building, which was discovered to have previously been the case.  Other elements of the project that contributed towards the increased cost included the need to completely replace the cladding on the building, rather than repairing the existing cladding and rebuilding the Arnhem section of the venue which proved to be more cost effective that repairing the existing structure.

Given the associated risks with redeveloping an older building, the Committee suggested that with the benefit of hindsight it may have been better to provide a cost range for the project rather than a specific budget total, which could be viewed as having been optimistic for a scheme on the scale of Fairfield Halls.

It was confirmed that approximately 10% of the total cost of the project had been spent on fees, which had helped to deliver much of the enabling work surrounding the project.

It was highlighted that the car park and landscaping around the venue had not been included in the scope of work (set out in appendix of the main report). As such it was questioned whether this would result in additional expenditure. In response it was confirmed that the budget related directly to the cost of redeveloping the building and not the external public realm and car parking costs.

In regard of the funding of £11,400,000 provided by the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership for the wider Fairfield scheme, it was questioned whether this was included in the budget total or had been allocated to other work. It was confirmed that part of the funding had been spent on the redevelopment of the Halls, with the remainder on the surrounding enabling development.

Although the car park had not been included in the scheduled of works for the Fairfield Halls redevelopment work was underway with it due to be open in eight to ten weeks. It was explained that the car park had originally been included as part of the planning application for the site, but due to Croydon College withdrawing from the scheme, it had meant that this section of the project was delayed as a planning variation was needed. It was confirmed that it was the responsibility of Brick by Brick to deliver the parking spaces.

In response to a question about changes made to the scope of works during the course of the project it was highlighted that delivery of the project had been handed to Brick by Brick following a decision by Cabinet in 2016. Once the decision had been made a full detailed design was undertaken in consultation with the Theatre’s Trust and BH Live. There were land ownership changes during the course of the project, as well as Croydon College not proceeded with their proposed project which also led to changes to the scheme. The land ownership of the site had been transferred over to Brick by Brick to deliver enabling development that funded the refurbishment of the venue.

It was noted that the current layout of the public realm at the front of Fairfield Halls was temporary and as such it was questioned when this would be finished. It was advised that the public realm work was the responsibility of the Council who had commissioned a design team for the project, although it was likely to be two years before this was completed as it had to be delivered in conjunction with the next phase in the wider development of the site.

The second part of the item focussed on the ongoing operation of the venue, with it explained that the contract had been awarded to BH Live who would run the venue without cost to the Council. It was highlighted that the contract included provision for a diverse range of shows and as such it was questioned how this had progress since the venue reopened in September 2019.  It was confirmed that at present the venue was still in its mobilisation phase, with a lot of work carried out prior to reopening to understand what the local community wanted from the venue and to work with theatre operators and other performing arts groups to encourage full use of Fairfield Halls once it reopened. There had been challenges since the venue reopened, but BH Live had been realistic that this would be the case when bidding for the contract.

The current challenges were similar to those faced by other venues across the country which was predominately making sure there was an audience for the product provided. There was research undertaken daily on what local audiences wanted, where they live, how far they were willing to travel and how much they would spend which was used to inform the programme of events. However with the venue having been closed for three years, it meant that there was a lack of trust with audiences and a need to build a database of potential customers, both of which were challenging. 90,000 tickets had been sold since the venue reopened in September 2019 up to January 2020, which was only 23% less than the final year before the venue closed when sales had been at there highest level.

As the current occupancy rate was 30% against a project target of 45%, it was questioned whether the target was achievable. It was advised that the target was considered achievable by BH Live who were an established theatre operator with a lot of experience in the field. There had been delays in the completion of the project with the car park not yet reopened and the interior work only just completed, all of which would have had an impact on the initial performance of the venue. However ticket sales were only slightly down on those before the closure when many more events had been hosted. There had also been a significant number of both conference and church events at the venue, all of which pointed towards a positive future.

The representatives from the Talawa and Savvy Theatre Companies were also questioned on their experience of using the venue and their reasons for choosing Fairfield Halls to work with.

Sheree Vickers from the Savvy Theatre Company advised that having studio space in the venue allowed the company to bring groups together in a safe space to create theatre. The venue not only provided a safe studio space, but was as a whole welcoming to groups the theatre company worked such as the homeless and adults with learning disabilities. Having a permanent venue had increased the status of Savvy, allowing them to work with other leading cultural providers and to increase participation.

Natasha Bucknor from the Talawa Theatre Company highlighted that when the company was looking for a permanent home, they found in Croydon partners with similar views on the promotion of culture to address wider social issues. It was advised that the facilities offered at Fairfield Halls were world class, with the studio space allowing the company to develop its work. An unexpected positive of being located in Croydon was becoming part of the cultural and civic community in the borough, which had helped them to feel at home in the Fairfield Halls.

It was confirmed that the concessions contract mentioned in the report was the lease on the venue, which was for an initial ten year period with the possibility of extending this for an additional five years. The Cabinet Member highlighted that the openness of BH Live to working in partnership with the Council should be commended and that it was welcomed that they shared an artistic and cultural vision for the borough with the Council.

In response to a question about how the performance of BH Live would be monitored, it was explained that a number of key performance indicators were being developed with the Council that would come into effect from April 2020. These would include audience numbers, community engagement, community hires (which were offered at up to 50% of the full hire charge), ticket pricing and the general trading position. It was agreed that performance information on the first full year of trading would be brought back to a future meeting of the Committee after April 2021.

It was highlighted by a Member that from their experience the online ticketing system could be difficult to negotiate, with concern that this may discourage some potential customers from purchasing tickets. In response it was confirmed that BH Live was looking to upgrade their ticketing system which would address these concerns.

It was noted that there was significant public concern about the cost of redevelopment of the venue, which was difficult to allay with a significant proportion of the work hidden from public view. As such it was questioned what could be done to restore public confidence in the venue. In response it was highlighted that the refurbishment of the venue was part of a wider regeneration project, which was using development elsewhere on the site to fund the refurbishment without cost to the Council. The project had also acted as a trigger for other regeneration and development elsewhere in the town centre. It was also highlighted that without the newly refurbished Fairfield Halls it was unlikely that Croydon would have made the shortlist for the London Borough of Culture 2023. It was advised that a photo exhibition detailing the refurbishment work could be staged at the venue to help the public understand the scale of the work that had been required.

At the conclusion of the item the Chair thanked the attendees for their participation in the meeting.

Conclusions

Following discussion of the report, the Committee reached the following conclusions:-

1. That the Fairfield regeneration scheme is complex in nature, with separate but interdependent schemes taking place at the Halls and across the surrounding public realm and amenities.  As the different schemes have evolved, it has become increasingly difficult to easily understand what work was being commissioned and at what cost.  The Council could have communicated this information more effectively as the scheme evolved to help ensure that there was a better understanding of the scheme.
2. That a definitive value for money judgement can only be made when the final breakdown of all costs is finalised, and at least a year of full site operation, to understand if the Council’s objectives of a revitalised Fairfield Halls has been achieved

3.    The Committee was reassured that there was a strong community programme in place and that the operator, BH Live, was ensuring that there was a strong community focus at the Halls.

4.    That while occupancy levels at the Halls were not as high as immediately prior to their closure for its restoration, they were positive in the context of the building work having only recently been completed and car parking provision not being available.   It would take a full year of operation before the Committee could fully assess the performance of the restored Halls.

Recommendations

The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to the Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport that BH Live be invited to attend a meeting of the Committee in the summer of 2021 to update Members on the progress made, to allow the committee to assess their progress against the operator’s original business case.