Creative business hub backed by councillors (From Gazette)
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Creative business hub backed by councillors
2:00pm Saturday 16th February 2013 in News
PLANS to transform Colchester’s old Queen Street police station into a £2million centre for the creative industries have been approved.
Colchester Council, which owns the Grade II-listed building, wants to turn it into a centre to help creative entrepreneurs start up businesses.
Currently occupied by TP’s Sports Bar, the bottom floor is set to become a cafe and reception area, with 22 studio spaces on the ground and first floors.
The plans were approved unanimously by Colchester Council planning committee on Thursday.
Nick Barlow, planning committee member, said: “This is a great scheme for Colchester and will certainly bring more life into a great building, given that very little of the building is being used.
“Creative businesses are something we really need.”
Nigel Offen added: “This would be an excellent facility in the centre of town and something which we should absolutely be backing.”
The partly EU-funded project would also provide an exhibition area for artwork .
It could also act as a venue for events for up to 400 people.
The new centre would be similar to the one at 15 Queen Street, which has helped 750 creative industry businesses in the past three years.
Comments(48)
Boris
says...
4:10pm Sat 16 Feb 13
Barside1 wrote:He won't be able to list 75. Maybe 5?
750 creative businesses helped by No.15 in three years?
Someone list them.
Nick Barlow, you list the 750.
22 businesses on the ground and first floors at 37?
So what is planned for the second floor?
.
And how many of the alleged "750" businesses are still going?
.
If CBC can't produce this information, it has no right to provide facilities at mates' rates to unaccountable people, while it is applying savage cuts to its own staff and to many local council tax payers.
Barside1
says...
4:32pm Sat 16 Feb 13
CBC - spin, spin, sugar....
Hamiltonandy
says...
11:03pm Sat 16 Feb 13
.
Does no one in our elected dictatorship realise the financial recession is getting worse? Who is going to be lumbered with all these purpose built temples to art when the public subsidies run out? Yes, it will the local taxpayer responsible for all these white elephants forced on us by the cultural barbarians!
.
We have rapidly expanding food banks, roads with more holes than swiss cheese and retail business folding up at an increasing rate. Yet Colchester Council reckons pouring more money into unpopular and unviable projects is better than improving neglected public services.
.
I do hope I can be at the full council meeting to puncture the dignity of this morally deficient group.
Barside1
says...
7:46am Sun 17 Feb 13
What kind of 'business' are we talking about here?
What type of 'help' are we talking about?
Colchester is being hyped up as some kind of centre of creative excellence, but with the greatest respect guys, just how many true creative businesses are cutting it in the commercial world and can stand on their own two feet.
If there are any such businesses, it is unlikely they would require any help from No.15, or anyone else, and it is even more unlikely they were want to be located in a project like No. 37.
I do see 37 as 'start up', but a start up to what? The plans too, look fine, but when you have CBC in the driving seat of anything art's related, you have a potential problem on the horizon.
Barside1
says...
8:22am Sun 17 Feb 13
Anyway, as I'm finding with my research into Firstsite, there are some wild promises and inflated figures being slung around in meetings between those seeking funding and CBC ( and beyond ).
Perhaps I should seek funding for this -
I'm taking off in a space rocket from Abbey Fields on Thursday morning at 11am.
This will all be in the name of 'art' as during the 750 orbits around earth I will be passing the time by taking colouring books and crayons on board.
Nick Barlow - can you make sure Arts Council England pay for the rocket fuel?
I took some advice from a PR stooge - he said 'the only way to travel anywhere is with a free ticket', and he has assured me that he will quickly spin another press release so that CBC can be at the launch, then we can have some waves and nice smiley pictures from Nick & Co.
From the house of 'Spin, Spin, Sugar'.
Catchedicam
says...
11:11am Sun 17 Feb 13
Jess Jephcott
says...
11:57am Sun 17 Feb 13
Barside1
says...
12:10pm Sun 17 Feb 13
jut1972
says...
2:56pm Sun 17 Feb 13
Tell you what CBC take that EU funding and give it to Chelmsford or Ipswich. Then your miserable citizens will be happy.
Barside1
says...
6:30pm Sun 17 Feb 13
There's me thinking that this is some kind of UK original masterplan that has been handed down from Westminster - but no, I should have guessed the 'paper' is actually almost a 'cut & paste' from the US model 'The Cultural Regeneration of the post-industrial City'. ( Written by a Canadian ).
Let's hope CBC have read and fully understood the paper and the supporting material.
What we now have in Colchester is a very high risk project. ( I'm referring to the Cultural Quarter ).
Having said that, it's brave and it may even work.
Trouble is, so far it's not working.
How do I know that?
Don't ask.
Two things from today's findings.
First - one of the blue sky 'consultants' actually thought he was in Chelmsford ( pronounced Chelms----ford in American ) as he strolled past The Minories.
Second - according to our consultant we already are a city so that will save people a lot of time in trying to achieve city status.
But, don't get too excited, we will only ever be a 'small city'.
Some of this explains how certain members of the council were reciting some kind of alien art speak during some of those moonage freak outs.
'Spin, Spin, Sugar....'
OAO
Jess Jephcott
says...
7:54pm Sun 17 Feb 13
Barside1
says...
8:25pm Sun 17 Feb 13
Isaac
'Hey Larry, how's it going man?'
Larry
'Not too good, I fell asleep on the damm train and ended up some other place'.
Isaac
'You're not in Chelms----ford'.
Larry
'No man, I'm in Col---ches---ter'.
Isaac
'Can you see a cath---ed---ral some place?'
Larry
'I can't see **** *** Isaac, I lost my damm glasses'.
Isaac
'Where are you staying Larry?'
Larry
'I'm staying at The Ge---orge Hotel' in the highest street'.
Isaac
'Is Col---ches---ter up some kind of mountain Larry?'
Larry
'No man - just one heck of a hill'.
Barside1
says...
8:45pm Sun 17 Feb 13
'I got a map Larry, let's see....
Lu---ton
South---East
Peter---burrow
Nor---wige
Ip---wige
Hey! - Col---ches---ter!
What say we dump a ******* great arts facilty right there Larry?'
Larry
'I don't know if the people here would turn on to that scene man'.
Isaac
'Well, we sure gotta dump the project some place'.
Barside1
says...
9:21pm Sun 17 Feb 13
'Did you get some glasses Larry?'
Larry
'No man but I found a telescope'.
Isaac
'What can you see?'
Larry
'McDonalds'.
Issac
'You need to go find the Min---or---ies'.
Ten minutes later -
Larry
'I think I'm in the Min---or---ies'.
Isaac
'Well point the telescope some place and tell me what you see'.
Larry
'I see can see a rabbit and I can see goose'.
Isaac
'What are they doing Larry?'
Larry
'Not much, in fact they ain't moving at all man'.
Isaac
'Larry, just check you are in the Min---or---ies dude'.
Larry
'Sorry Isaac, I'm in the Nat---ur--al His---to---ry Mus---e---um'.
Isaac
'I thought you were in the ******* kitchen at the hotel'.
Barside1
says...
9:49pm Sun 17 Feb 13
'I'm across the road from the Min---or---ies Isaac'.
Isaac
'Ok - get your telescope fixed on the entrance and every time you see a vis---it---or enter the joint I want you to yell out 'Zappa'.
Larry
'Sure thing Isaac, I'm right on top of this man'.
Half an hour later..
Isaac
'I ain't heard you hola none, what's up?'
Larry
'There ain't no action dude'.
Isaac
'Well, just keep the telescope pointed'.
Three hours later
Larry
'Isaac, they're shutting up the building'.
Isaac
'Ok, how many vis---it---ors have we got for this afternoon Larry?'
Larry
'None Isaac'.
Isaac
'That'll do just fine Larry, we'll call that 200'.
bullybob
says...
12:28am Mon 18 Feb 13
Hamiltonandy wrote:Andy,
So another publicly financed exhibition centre for art to be managed by Firstsite. Then there are the so called "creative businesses" that only function on yet more public subsidies.
.
Does no one in our elected dictatorship realise the financial recession is getting worse? Who is going to be lumbered with all these purpose built temples to art when the public subsidies run out? Yes, it will the local taxpayer responsible for all these white elephants forced on us by the cultural barbarians!
.
We have rapidly expanding food banks, roads with more holes than swiss cheese and retail business folding up at an increasing rate. Yet Colchester Council reckons pouring more money into unpopular and unviable projects is better than improving neglected public services.
.
I do hope I can be at the full council meeting to puncture the dignity of this morally deficient group.
This isn't going to be an art gallery.
I (and many people I know) work as freelancers for a 'creative business' and I can assure you none of us are subsidised by the public purse. Gosh, wouldn't that be nice!
Again, I think you need to stop foaming at the mouth for a second and take note that this is NOT an art gallery. As usual, you veer wildly off-piste on a personal vendetta because you couldn't get your way 5 years ago.
Please, Andy, tell me what we your miracle solution is to Colchester's woes?
Barside1
says...
8:18am Mon 18 Feb 13
'Larry, now we got the vis---it---or stats in the matrix we need you to go walk the streets with your telescope'.
Larry
'Sure thing Isaac'.
Isaac
'We need an overview of Chelms---ford in the year of Two Thousand and Six'.
Larry
'You mean Col---ches---ter, I'm in Col---ches---ter Isaac'.
Isaac
'Oh yeah, well anyways, get your telescope and go take a hike - see if you can find something nice we can write about and if you can't, well we can just cook something up'.
Barside1
says...
8:42am Mon 18 Feb 13
'Isaac - I think I've got something you're gonna dig'.
Isaac
'What you got in your scope Larry?'
Larry
'I got the Captain laying on a bench in this here park Isaac'.
Isaac
'Pugwash - did he sail up the river Larry?
Larry
'This ain't Pugwash, this is the real ******* deal - this looks very much like the Beefheart to me'.
Isaac
'Get in closer Larry - go check that dude'.
Larry
'Hey Isaac, you ain't gonna believe this'.
Isaac
'What you got?'
Larry
'Well, I got a whole load of Beefhearts on these here benches man - wow, those mushrooms I ate at the break---fast table are sure hitting the spot'.
TheCaptain
says...
9:04am Mon 18 Feb 13
bullybob wrote:I think we all know And won't reply with any suggestions, all he van do is slag off Colchester and any attempts to change things.
Hamiltonandy wrote:Andy,
So another publicly financed exhibition centre for art to be managed by Firstsite. Then there are the so called "creative businesses" that only function on yet more public subsidies.
.
Does no one in our elected dictatorship realise the financial recession is getting worse? Who is going to be lumbered with all these purpose built temples to art when the public subsidies run out? Yes, it will the local taxpayer responsible for all these white elephants forced on us by the cultural barbarians!
.
We have rapidly expanding food banks, roads with more holes than swiss cheese and retail business folding up at an increasing rate. Yet Colchester Council reckons pouring more money into unpopular and unviable projects is better than improving neglected public services.
.
I do hope I can be at the full council meeting to puncture the dignity of this morally deficient group.
This isn't going to be an art gallery.
I (and many people I know) work as freelancers for a 'creative business' and I can assure you none of us are subsidised by the public purse. Gosh, wouldn't that be nice!
Again, I think you need to stop foaming at the mouth for a second and take note that this is NOT an art gallery. As usual, you veer wildly off-piste on a personal vendetta because you couldn't get your way 5 years ago.
Please, Andy, tell me what we your miracle solution is to Colchester's woes?
SteveExPat
says...
9:32am Mon 18 Feb 13
Barside1
says...
10:20am Mon 18 Feb 13
'I think there's a mon---as---try in the distance Isaac!'
Isaac
'Go get a closer look, what can you see?'
Larry
'I can see the monks and they are stretched out on the benches taking it easy man'.
Isaac
'Sure are a lot of dudes laying on benches Larry'.
Larry
'Well, I would say this here town is a good place to relax'.
Isaac
'Go get an interview with some of the monks Larry, that would be a great angle for the report'.
Larry
'I got a quote Isaac, the monk says 'go shove your telescope up your ******* ****'.
Isaac
'That will do just fine Larry, we can change the words around a little'.
romantic
says...
10:52am Mon 18 Feb 13
Jess Jephcott wrote:Jess, I think you´re wrong to think that querying the figures claimed by Firstsite is the same as a hatred for Colchester.
Here they go again. The clique of cowards attacking Colchester. From what I see, and I visited firstsite yesterday, firstsite seems to be managing very well. The sooner they clear out that eyesore of an old bus station, the better. It makes the area look so scruffy. What they then need is a 'curmudgeon spot' so that the arts haters can all enjoy each other's company and slag off the town to their heart's content. Perhaps they could be provide with soap boxes too, to stand on so that we can all go along and listen to them carp and whinge. It could be quite an attraction for the town. Hey, it could even become a performing arts space! They would need dark glasses and false beards though, to protect their anonymity. We wouldn't want people to know who it is that hates the town so much, would we?
I for one certainly want Firstsite to be a success, but I also think it is important to know if there have been major financial irregularities, as implied by barside1.
When the stories broke about MPs expenses, for example, getting to the bottom of that issue would not be seen as an attack on democracy.
It is right and proper that the use of public money is transparent and above board. If barside1 has evidence otherwise, as it appears he does, it is something that I would like to know about, as I´m sure many others would.
Most people on here do post anonymously. It doesn´t detract from what they say. You were also anonymous as sdapeze, although I think many had already worked out who you were. Now that you choose to use your real name, it does not make your views more worthy than others´.
As for this new creative business hub, I hope it does work, but also hope that it is done in such a way that the public do not feel that our money is being used without any control.
Jess Jephcott
says...
1:10pm Mon 18 Feb 13
Barside1
says...
7:31pm Mon 18 Feb 13
Community is a Government buzz word that has been forced on local authorities.
Community died when industry died.
I would also like to extend my gratitude for the psychiatric analysis.
I can confirm that I have been suffering from mental illness after consuming about 70 magic mushrooms in one night on our caravan tour of Wales in 1974.
My girlfriend at the time ( Sharon Edwards ) tried to eat the tyres on our caravan ( she got the munchies real bad poor thing ), fell down a hillside, and that was the last anyone saw of her.
I didn't like her that much anyway.
People seem to blip off the radar in that part of Wales so no one took much notice.
That said, it's back to business -
Isaac
'Larry, we need to get something together for the report that covers the nightlife in that there town'.
Larry
'Do you have an angle Isaac?'
Isaac
'I sure do Larry, what I want you to do is climb up on the roof of your hotel with the telescope - we gonna call it 'a bird's eye view of the nightlife' - you dig that man?'
Larry
'That's a swell angle Isaac, I'm ready for this'.
Barside1
says...
8:20pm Mon 18 Feb 13
'Are things hotting up there Larry?'
Larry
'The locals seem to be suffering from some kind of sickness bug, people are going down like flies'.
Isaac
'Chenicals?'
Larry
'It sure looks that way'.
Isaac
'Just descibe the scene there Larry, we can twist things around for the report'.
Larry
'Well there's people diving on top of cars man, they're real excited'.
Isaac
'Excitement - that's groovy man'.
Larry,
'There's a lot of cop cars with sirens going and that's setting off the alarms on the buildings'.
Isaac
'Keep it coming Larry, this is looking great man'.
Larry
'There's copters overhead, and water cannons moving in, I ain't seen this much action in a while man'.
Isaac
'Go, Go, Go!'
Larry
'There's a gorilla up a lamp post'.
'Isaac'
'Those guys really know how to let their hair down man, that's a real wild scene going down'.
Barside1
says...
8:29pm Mon 18 Feb 13
'Chemicals',
Trying to type and talk on the phone at the same time is difficult with my condition.
x
ps. Thanks Clare for the info tonight!!!!
Hamiltonandy
says...
10:56pm Mon 18 Feb 13
.
It is shameful to see the reduced funding of the popular Mercury Theatre and the Colchester Arts Centre whilst an ever increasing flood goes into the much despised Firstsite and the failed "cultural quarter".
.
It would be helpful if Colchester Council was prepared to listen to other views but it only listens to a art elite that has ensured an increasing part of Colchester town centre is a pointless symbol of the elected dictatorship now ruining Colchester.
.
The cultural barbarians will never listen but I do have positive suggestions to make the VAF profitable. It would mean a considerable expansion of the exhibition space using low cost structures. Also maximum use of the surrounding land. Charging would be necessary but that would be against the present Art Council grant conditions. Another Art Council requirement and VAF lease requirement that everything has to be art related has to go. What you need in the currently derelict "cultural quarter" is a democratic operation where the public are in control through an accountable group. That would mean the parasites called Firstsite would have to be evicted. Unfortunately Firstsite have a lease on the VAF for a long time so would be unlikely to go.
.
In the old days people invested in the town the money they made in business. Now the art groups are almost entirely funded by taxpayer money so naturally they only listen to the Arts Council or other quangoes. When democracy is abandoned by electoral dictatorships the only way to bring change is to fight back.
.
I promised Colchester Council that if they wished to destroy themselves, I would help all the way. The latest humiliation is the disastrous Tymperleys sale. I want to assure these bureaucrats that they will continue to move smoothly from one disaster to another.
.
There are sixty councillors happily contemplating an increase in so called "allowances". Only a morally deficient council could be so greedy and uncaring of the desperate financial state of public finances. Already council staff have gone and more are getting the push. Perhaps some of the councillors could go. We have two councillors in Lexden and could manage with one. As only eight councillors have the power to make most decisions you have to wonder if the other 52 are being used effectively.
Barside1
says...
8:25am Tue 19 Feb 13
I hope members of Colchester Borough Council, both past and present, who have been involved in all things related to the Cultural Quarter are fully educated in papers such as 'The Cultural Regeneration of the Post Industrial City ( or in our case, town ).
I wondered where the following promises ( by CBC members ) had their roots.
'Firstsite will create jobs in retail and tourism'. ( hundreds! ).
'Firstsite will boost economic growth across the sectors'.
( the quotes are based on 'reports' ).
And there are a whole lot more.
Although it's early days in following up on these wild promises it's already looking as though these quotes were completely mis-leading.
The entire Cultural Quarter does seem to be spinning off Firstsite as its central point.
My interest in Firstsite performance through data / visitor stats etc has become far more important now that I am beginning to get my head around the entire project.
I have been asked by media and others if I believe some kind of 'conspiracy' is behind this.
The media don't think so.
'Conspiracy' was not my word by the way, I would rather use a term like 'covering their tracks'.
The further I look into this, the more I find to cast doubt on the entire Cultural Quarter development.
I think most members of CBC were ( not 'are' ) genuine in their belief that the project will eventually 'boost economic growth', but from what I have seen and heard, I get the feeling that this is all a huge gamble and no one really knows if it will work.
Firstsite only has to rack up 1,500.000 visitors in 10 years to comply with the target that was used as a long term model in the masterplan.
As far as I can see - the 'model' and masterplan have been miscalculated in the factors that would stimulate economic growth.
172,000 visitors in Year 1 ( possibly true, but it's Year 2 where the real fun starts! ) to the Visual Arts Facility do not appear to have made any significant contribution to local commerce.
We think that 172,000 will slide down to around 90,000 to 100,000 in Year 2, if the last 5 months figures are anything to go by.
CBC are talking about an 'increase' in visitor stats for Year 2 - when I heard that I began to think there was something going on behind the scenes. ( almost a conspiracy? ).
Let me say this though, the drawings for 37 and the surrounding area look great, and yeah, if they can get all this together, it will improve the entire area.
I'm not opposed to the Cultural Quarter as such, just the theory that it will drive economic growth in the town.
We have a list of CBC promises as to delivery from Firstsite - going through the list we can only find one ( Firstsite hope to attract 150,000 visitors in its first year ) out of about 10 points that gets anything like a tick box.
The Cultural Quarter is in effect a business plan built on a very shallow foundation.
We need food more than we need art.
Apologies in advance for any spelling / grammar errors - smashed out fast as guys.
x
Hamiltonandy
says...
10:25am Tue 19 Feb 13
.
It seems the real visitor numbers at at best 1/5 of the quoted figures. As people like "Barside1" have shown, through careful observation, most so called visitors do not meet the the criteria as their visits have nothing to do with the art exhibitions. Effectively each real visitor is subsidised by about £50 of public money to provide exhibitions so dull they merit zero coverage in the national press.
.
So many local residents have no wish to visit the VAF even once. Colchester Council has become a "rotten borough" with low public expectations. People feel there is no point in saying anything because no one in the elected dictatorship is listening. A great town with a fascinating heritage has gradually declined so it is only noted for a notorious night life.
Barside1
says...
12:54pm Tue 19 Feb 13
'MOST STUPID FIRSTSITE CLAIM'
1st Prize
ROBERT DAVIDSON
'This will create 400 jobs in tourism'
Runner Up
ROBERT DAVIDSON
'Firstsite will attract £2 million spending to the local economy every year'.
We should put him in the stocks.
Quite incredible that anyone could utter such rubbish.
I'm afraid that it's Mr Davidson who people are pointing the finger towards, as some of them try and cover their own backsides.
Barside1
says...
4:34pm Tue 19 Feb 13
'Sitting in harmonious juxtaposition to the surrounding rich mix of heritage in Colchester's built environment, firstsite:newsite heralds our diverse and vibrant cultural offer'.
ADRIAN PRITCHARD, CBC
Try this -
'Firstsite will develop non-prescriptive tools for learning to look and for understanding something of the production and consumption of visual culture'. ( Yawn ).
FIRSTSITE
From a meet-up this afternoon -
'We thought Robert Davidson had actually picked up the wrong file because the figures were way off the scale for Colchester, in fact, they would have been way off the scale for Norwich.
We were looking at one another in disbelief, it was all a bit surreal. **** ****** actually thought someone had swapped some of the pages of the Manchester report for Colchester by mistake'.
Barside1
says...
5:05pm Tue 19 Feb 13
'It reached the point when I thought, that's it, the building won't be finished.
I don't know if they went as far as to put the demolition out for tender but it was certainly being discussed.
Even with no contractors on site the price was somehow rocketing.
Some of the scaffold must have been up for years, there was water seeping in all over the place, and it had become something of a wild life sanctuary.
I could see why people wore hard hats in there, there were hunks of metal dangling and building materials strewn across the ground.
We think building materials were going off site, in fact contractors said they would recover their materials, so maybe we paid twice for some of the stuff.'
( Sorry it appears that I am gatecrashing the thread, but there are a few people following this ).
jut1972
says...
9:00pm Tue 19 Feb 13
If you haven't all this talk over visitor numbers and business plans is just meaningless.
Of course the business plan will promise economic growth, a new utopia, the cure for all the worlds ills, they always do, the reality is always different and it is encumbent on CBC to manage the delivery of that.
Now either you have something to say or you dont but come on cut to the chase!
Jess Jephcott
says...
9:20pm Tue 19 Feb 13
Hamiltonandy
says...
10:43pm Tue 19 Feb 13
.
I do not denounce individual councillors but cannot accept the way they have collectively turned our town council into an unaccountable and incompetent authority. Clearly from the silence they are quite happy to do nothing about the cabinet now ruining Colchester.
.
Out of interest, is ex-councillor Davidson still around? He left office, so sudenly, weeks before the election. It would be nice to talk to him and see if he has changed his views about the VAF prospects.
council
Barside1
says...
11:33pm Tue 19 Feb 13
Looks like your needle gets stuck on 'ignore'.
But you don't.
Do you?
Why?
The Firstsite spin machine has been in overdrive for almost 10 years.
If you give it - you gotta take it.
I don't insult you as it is not my way, but by all means continue insulting me if it makes you feel better.
But really Jess, you are insulting yourself.
wellnow
says...
9:26am Wed 20 Feb 13
jim_bo
says...
11:15am Wed 20 Feb 13
So the Council have a failing town, with infrastructure controlled by another council. Across the country shops and High St's are failing so its a national problem, consumers are internet bound to save money, and who can blame them?
So they whole heartedly invested into a cultural rejuvernation and were sold a pup. But what else cold they do. Out of money and out of ideas the Arts lobby turn up with a bucket of cash and say for £2 million you can have a £14 million Art gallery to rival some of Europe's finest galleries.
So whilst the other Quangos are in Flames the arts gravy train keeps on chuffing, so lets take their money and when it finally gets pulled in a few years time (if) we have some nice new spaces to use for something more
practacble.
I agree that CBC are useless but the 12-15 of us who sit on here moaning about our town isn't going to fix many of the problems.
romantic
says...
11:29am Wed 20 Feb 13
jut1972 wrote:Got to agree with jut1972 here: there is a big difference between wildly optimistic projections and what would basically be fraud.
Barside 1 it would be a lot easier to follow if you stopped all the "jokes" and gave some hard facts. Either you have uncovered something inappropriate about how the funding was granted or you haven't.
If you haven't all this talk over visitor numbers and business plans is just meaningless.
Of course the business plan will promise economic growth, a new utopia, the cure for all the worlds ills, they always do, the reality is always different and it is encumbent on CBC to manage the delivery of that.
Now either you have something to say or you dont but come on cut to the chase!
If Firstsite have been deliberately misleading their backers by falsifying visitor numbers, then that could be seen as fraud.
Optimistic projections and flowery meaningless hype might be harder to establish as being criminal. That happens all the time - just compare architects´drawings with the finished building, or pictures on a restaurant menu with what you actually get.
If this leads back to a specific individual, do you have any proof that he knowingly misled anybody?
The quotes from people are interesting, the speculative conversations are reducing the impact of what you are saying.
I think it may be time to cut to the chase, as jut1972 says. If you have hard evidence of fraud by specific people, it needs to be known about. Anything less concrete than that would be hard to argue for in a court.
jut1972
says...
7:43pm Wed 20 Feb 13
Hamiltonandy
says...
11:21pm Wed 20 Feb 13
.
Actually people have been trying to improve/fix the problems in Colchester but the elected dictatorship is the problem.
.
Example 1. Refusal to permit a mobility scooter service at the old bus station on ludicrous grounds that there was no room. Ditto no permission either at the new "bus station".
.
Example 2. Colchester Council stopped myself, estate agent and a civic society representative from inspecting Tymperleys just to prevent a charitable bid. The finance was in place but the obnoxious and spiteful cultural barbarians are happy to see Tymperleys continue to deteriorate.
.
Lots more examples but all show the same shameful behaviour. Unfortunately I could not attend the council meeting to denounce these morally deficient spongers on the public purse. I will be emailing the council with a reminder that they will continue to be humiliated as things keep going wrong. Colchester Council have offended about everyone, except Firstsite, so deserves all coming their way.
Barside1
says...
8:34am Thu 21 Feb 13
I can't say that we have carried out a survey as such, but in asking some of the guys in the restaurant business in the town, and in close proximity to the 'Cultural Quarter', none of them have noticed any difference in trade since the arrival of the Visual Arts Facility.
Have Firstsite produced / published a visitor survey?
I doubt they have even thought about it.
The Sheffield survey would be an interesting starting point.
We contacted CBC tourism and asked how Firstsite had impacted on the total numbers of people coming into the town in Year 1.
The basic answer seemed to be 'we don't know, and there are no signs as yet that Firstsite has impacted in any way'.
As for the hundreds of jobs that Firstsite would create in the town when it opened, well, as yet, other than positions at Firstsite itself, we can't find a single one.
Our 'inquiry' is small time, and I doubt it will make much difference to anyone in the long run, but one thing it has done, is to spark a little debate.
Additionally, we are being asked about our findings by members of the press and media ( not the Gazette ).
We learned yesterday that there is now additional funding being pumped into Arts in Colchester to 'raise its profile'.
This funding is coming through Haven Gateway ( we think ).
There won't be a major inquiry into Firstsite, but there is nothing to stop CBC in conducting a debrief on the impact ( or lack of impact ) of Firstsite.
I doubt CBC will entertain such an idea.
Well, from our initial findings, for what they are worth, Firstsite has not impacted on the town in respect of any of the aspirations that were reeled off in the presentations and funding applications.
Jess Jephcott
says...
8:55am Thu 21 Feb 13
Barside1
says...
10:14am Thu 21 Feb 13
Jess Jephcott wrote:Hit a nerve does it Jess?
yawn!
Not in keeping with your dream of 'city status'?
For someone on 'ignore' you are pretty quick off the mark.
Jess Jephcott
says...
11:19am Thu 21 Feb 13
romantic
says...
2:58pm Fri 22 Feb 13
It might be worth contacting them with what you have, as they may be more inclined to publish it than the Gazette. Not sure how big their readership is, but you might also find others there who have been asking the same sorts of questions.
jut1972
says...
3:38pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Barside1 wrote:CBC aren't going to do any survey into an effect unless the business case states it would be achieved by a certain time. As a business man you know this and yet you continue to pump out pointless missives.
You would think CBC or someone may have conducted a survey to see how Firstsite has impacted on the local economy.
I can't say that we have carried out a survey as such, but in asking some of the guys in the restaurant business in the town, and in close proximity to the 'Cultural Quarter', none of them have noticed any difference in trade since the arrival of the Visual Arts Facility.
Have Firstsite produced / published a visitor survey?
I doubt they have even thought about it.
The Sheffield survey would be an interesting starting point.
We contacted CBC tourism and asked how Firstsite had impacted on the total numbers of people coming into the town in Year 1.
The basic answer seemed to be 'we don't know, and there are no signs as yet that Firstsite has impacted in any way'.
As for the hundreds of jobs that Firstsite would create in the town when it opened, well, as yet, other than positions at Firstsite itself, we can't find a single one.
Our 'inquiry' is small time, and I doubt it will make much difference to anyone in the long run, but one thing it has done, is to spark a little debate.
Additionally, we are being asked about our findings by members of the press and media ( not the Gazette ).
We learned yesterday that there is now additional funding being pumped into Arts in Colchester to 'raise its profile'.
This funding is coming through Haven Gateway ( we think ).
There won't be a major inquiry into Firstsite, but there is nothing to stop CBC in conducting a debrief on the impact ( or lack of impact ) of Firstsite.
I doubt CBC will entertain such an idea.
Well, from our initial findings, for what they are worth, Firstsite has not impacted on the town in respect of any of the aspirations that were reeled off in the presentations and funding applications.
Barside1 says...
2:24pm Sat 16 Feb 13
Someone list them.
Nick Barlow, you list the 750.
22 businesses on the ground and first floors at 37?
So what is planned for the second floor?