Agenda item
Inspiring Brent : Brent's Action Plan for the London 2012 Games
The Select Committee requested a briefing note on this item providing details of what was being undertaken to upgrade town centres and of the costs of the Action Plan.
The Lead Member and Lead Officer have also been invited to the meeting to respond to Members’ questions.
Minutes:
Councillor Van Colle (Lead Member for Environment, Planning and Culture) and Zerritha Brown (2012 Manager, Environment and Culture) were present to respond to questions from Members.
Councillor Powney stated that he understood that Transportation Unit were to introduce a ‘Streets for People’ scheme in Harlesden Town Centre in 2012 and he sought views about the possibility of co-ordinating this scheme with the 2012 London Games Action Plan in view of the advantages such an approach would provide. He enquired if there had been any consultation with residents concerning the 2012 London Games Action Plan and in particular whether certain ethnic groups in the Borough had been approached with a view to boosting tourism opportunities. Councillor Powney also asked if the Council’s website would promote the 2012 Olympics in different languages as another means to attract visitors to Brent. The Chair commented that encouraging tourism was part of the Action Plan brief.
Councillor Mistry commented that communities in Brent were directly attempting to encourage athletes and other visitors to the area for the 2012 Olympics as well as contacting relevant organisations overseas. She suggested that functions could take place near Olympic events that were taking place in Brent in order to attract more visitors. Councillor H B Patel asked whether any country competing in the Olympics had expressed an interest or confirmed use of any training and sports facilities in Brent. He also enquired if there was any possibility of receiving funds from the Government or the Government Office for London to increase such facilities in Brent in time for the Olympics.
In reply to the issues raised, Councillor Van Colle acknowledged the benefits of co-ordinating the 2012 London Games Action Plan with the Harlesden Town Centre ‘Streets for People’ scheme, however he stressed that the Harlesden scheme was not an Olympic related spend. He explained that the Harlesden Town Centre scheme funding was allocated to be spent in the financial year 2012-13 and although efforts would be made to co-ordinate spending and implementation of the scheme, it could not be guaranteed that the scheme would be in place by the start of the Olympics. With regard to the possible Olympics use of venues in Brent, Councillor Van Colle warned that there was concern amongst Olympics organisers that athletes would not be able to arrive at venues such as Wembley Stadium in good time for events in as they would be based in Stratford. However, he agreed that efforts should be made to attract visitors to the area during the Olympics. The Select Committee noted that the Council’s 2012 Team were seeking to attract funding to the area to provide opportunities during the Olympics.
Zerritha Brown added that there were no plans at present to approach particular ethnic groups to help increase visitors to Brent during the Olympics. Members heard that training camps were being set up at sports centres to encourage sports participation amongst local residents and athletes were being encouraged to visit Brent. Zerritha Brown advised that Visit London was co-ordinating plans to increase visitors to London during the Olympics and the Council was compiling information about various communities in Brent to submit to Visit London. The Select Committee noted that promoting tourism was a broad objective under the Council’s regeneration aspirations and not specifically an element of the London 2012 Games Action Plan. The possibility of hosting functions was also being considered during the lead-up to the Olympics. Zerritha Brown advised that India had been approached about their Olympics Team using sporting and training facilities in the Borough and the Indian community in Brent was actively involved in this initiative. The Brazil Olympics Team had confirmed that they would not be using facilities in Brent after an approach from the Council. Members noted that there was no indication that funding from the Government and the Government Office for London to boost sporting facilities would be made available.
RESOLVED:-
that the briefing note on Inspiring Brent: Brent's Action Plan for the London 2012 Games be noted.
Supporting documents: