Agenda item

To consider the report of the Assistant Director Economy.

The Economy and Tourism Manager presented a report which updated Members on the preparation for Exeter being a ‘Host City’ for Rugby World Cup 2015 tournament taking place between 18 September and 31 October 2015, including the work being undertaken to ensure that there was a longer lasting legacy from the city’s involvement.

Councillor Denham, following an invitation by the Chair to speak, congratulated the officer team on the impressive work to date, whilst working within a relatively small budget. The legacy element was a clear goal of the RWC 2015 event as this would be the most effective communication of a successful aftermath. The Chief Executive & Growth Director also referred to his participation as a member of the national Rugby World Cup Legacy Board promoting legacy schemes through a national fund.

The Economy and Tourism Manager referred to a Member who had congratulated the whole team who had worked hard and also responded to his comment on specific legacy activities. The Member welcomed initiatives such as the Rugby Empowering Employment Programme (REEP) where the City Council had taken an active leadership role.

The Economy and Tourism Manager responded as follows to Members’ queries :-

·         the release of £50,000 from the Unexpected Festival budget, which had also levered in additional funding from the Arts Council and England 2015, would help fund events and a spectacular within the Fanzone. The Unexpected Festival would still take place, and would tie in with Fanzone activity, and the combining of the two to be closely monitored to ensure transparency;

·         although a budget had not been specifically allocated for city dressing, Devon County Council and England 2015 had offered support and both the Exeter business sector and wider community were heavily involved in city dressing including the creation of handmade bunting and knitted ‘yarn bombing’, (street art creating colourful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn) for installation at the same time as the official RWC2015 dressing.  Care would be taken to protect the handmade dressing from vandalism; 

·    a further allocation of match tickets for Sandy Park had been announced last week and this included 500 tickets released for the City Council’s use for specific community and educational activities, nominations had been sought for the ticket allocation.  Five VIP tickets for each match at Sandy Park had been offered to key organisations within Exeter. There would also be a final tranche of 40 tickets to be used over the three matches, for economic development and investment purposes;

·    the distribution of the ‘My First Rugby Ball’ book, an initiative to introduce rugby into primary schools had been very successful.  The next stage would be to take the process one step further and develop that relationship with more hands on activities introducing greater local participation by Exeter Chiefs and students from the University of Exeter and Exeter College. It was anticipated that the scheme would be rolled out nationally, funded by England Rugby, with the aim of increasing school participation in rugby in a more structured way. Efforts would be made to ensure that the interest likely to follow would be sustainable and ensure that the necessary resources, which may not be financial, were in place.  She added that there were also additional legacy schemes funded through England Rugby for young women and girls to play rugby and for young people not in employment funded through the Rugby Premiership League.  Assurances were given that a structure and more coaches were in place to deal with the additional numbers likely to be attracted to rugby.

The Deputy Chief Executive responded to Members' comments on ensuring the city was looking its best, including the city’s green infrastructure.  He was aware that both Exeter City Council and Devon County Council leaders had made a firm commitment to ensure that the city was fit for purpose through the duration of the RWC2015 events. He would also enquire about the state of the pathway in the lead up to Digby Station and the awning on the frontage of Central Station.

Scrutiny Committee - Economy supported the report and recommended Executive endorse the programme of legacy projects, the preparations for the Fanzone and activities to promote the city leading up to the Tournament.