Members of the public who have requested the opportunity to ask a question(s) on an item on the agenda will be asked to put their question(s) to the Committee. Each member of the public will be allowed to ask one supplementary question within his/her allocated 3 minutes.
Minutes:
Two public questions were submitted in relation Item 5 - Request for a Call In: Chorley Remembers – Astley Coach House Gallery.
1. Pauline Collins – Lodge Artists Society Committee member
Lodge Artists Society has exhibited at Astley Hall and more recently The Coach House Gallery for 34 years so can you tell us just how much interest and commitment has to be shown by an art related organisation in order to be considered relevant enough to be consulted by Councillors prior to important decisions, as to the future of thesevenues, being made?
Councillor Alistair Bradley – Leader of the Council responded:
It is acknowledged that time to contact affected groups took longer than expected, due to availability over the summer holiday period and the focus on the cenotaph element of the project at the time. We have since met with the Lodge Artists and agreed alternative arrangements together with additional opening hours.
We will continue to work with local groups, including the Lodge Artists, and following consultation we have identified a number of potential alternatives including:
· Adapting the Farmhouse building to provide an additional exhibition space.
· Prioritising exhibition space in the Astley Hall gallery for local groups / artists.
· Extending the opening hours for the Astley Hall gallery for local exhibitions.
· Providing temporary exhibition space in the two other rooms in the Coach House and in the Townley Parker room at the Hall
· Exploring other alternatives such as the use of other Council buildings and sites in the town centre.
2. Maurice Houghton, Vice Chair, Friends of Astley Park
In view of the lack of consultation in the decision making process, which has resulted in one organisation being given exclusive use of the Coach House Gallery to the detriment of all other users, what measures are the Executive Cabinet going to put in place to ensure that all future decisions regarding its use are evidence based and subject to a full and transparent consultation process.
Councillor Alistair Bradley – Leader of the Council responded:
In addition to the comments already made in response to the previous questions it is acknowledged that time to contact affected groups took longer than expected, due to availability over the summer holiday period and the focus on the cenotaph element of the project at the time. The Council has been able to accommodate satisfactory alternatives with all the groups affected and even offer additional opening hours.
From September into November consultation has also taken place with Members of the Astley Advisory Group who were invited to provide feedback and comments about the proposed changes. The gallery use has also been discussed at two meetings with the Astley Advisory Group, a special meeting on September 5th and the Quarterly Astley Advisory Group meeting on November 20th.
Exclusive use of the Coach House Gallery has not been given to one organisation as the Chorley Remembers exhibition has been gifted to Chorley Council and the Council will be responsible for managing the exhibition. Although the gallery would be used for the Chorley Remembers exhibition on a longer term basis this would be subject to review after 2 years.
The Council will continue to monitor all requests for exhibition space with priority given for local artists. To date all requests have been accommodated.