Agenda item

The report provides an update on the Council’s Tourism Strategy and invites feedback from Members.

Contact:

Richard Smith – Creative Development Manager

A report was submitted which provided an update on the Council’s Tourism Strategy and invited feedback from Committee Members.

Adele Poppleton, Service Director – Culture and Visitor Economy provided an introduction:

·       The Tourism Strategy sat alongside the Culture and Heritage Strategies; the Heritage Strategy had been approved by Cabinet in 2024, and the Culture Strategy was in development.

·       The themes had previously been discussed by the Committee and the draft strategy was now ready to go out for consultation to gather feedback from communities and the tourism sector.

·       The strategy needed to align with the West Yorkshire Destination Management Plan which had been produced through the Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP). The LVEP undertook collaborative work and took a lead in this area, through partnership with the other West Yorkshire authorities and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Richard Smith, Creative Development Manager, gave a presentation covering the following key areas:

·       A summary of activity to date.

·       The tourism and visitor economy and its impacts.

·       The current position in terms of the key motivators for people to visit the district: ‘Where are we now?’ and how the existing strengths would be developed.

·       The West Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership Destination Management Plan which set out the ambition for the region and the benefits this had for Kirklees. The LVEP was part of Visit England’s national network.

·       The aims and actions to achieve the vision: ‘How will we get there?’

·       The strategy would provide direction to an important area of work for the next few years.

·       Feedback via the public consultation process was welcomed and a specific survey would be created, along with undertaking in-person consultation sessions.

·       The strategy would be further refined following analysis of the feedback.

Councillor Martyn Bolt was also present for the item.

Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       The map had been developed through the original research work and was a starting point; the aim was to keep it relatively simple and useable. Feedback in terms of which places were included would be taken on board.

·       The challenges associated with the identification of Kirklees, which did not exist as a place as such, and the general lack of knowledge/confusion about its location and whether the promotion was of ‘Kirklees’ or destinations, communities and towns within its boundary. This was acknowledged and part of the current process was trying to understand that and decide on the best approach to take. It was considered that a theme-based approach would assist. In addition, the district would be part of the promotion of West Yorkshire and Yorkshire as a whole, through work with partners.   It would depend on the circumstances in each case what approach to promotion was taken.

·       In response to questions in respect of: how it could be made relevant to local places and organisations, who the Council was engaging with, and how to identify the gaps where the Council could play a developmental role; it was explained that there was a desire to work with communities and to ensure that the conditions were right so that local groups could deliver, but also to bring all the activities together as a whole and to utilise the strength of the Council’s support in marketing/promotion and the partnership approach.

·       Once the three strategies (Tourism, Culture and Heritage) had been approved, local delivery plans would be developed to ensure that the different focuses and priorities of each area were recognised.

·       Collaborative working did take place with volunteers and groups running heritage open days, such as opening historic buildings to the public, through support with communications and publicity. The view was expressed that these events should be included in the tourism offer.

·       The reference to direct rail links to London did not mention Mirfield.

·       It was noted that the Tolson Museum was not currently included in the list of heritage assets and that Cleckheaton Folk Festival had been affected by the closure of Cleckheaton Town Hall.

·       Consideration should be given to the local people who could be used as ambassadors for music and culture.

·       In respect of development as a destination for sport and active holidays, the area had world-wide recognition in relation to cycling such as through the 2014 Tour de France and should capitalise on cycling tourism and the economic benefits from this. There should also be focus on the Pennine Way; the 60^th anniversary of opening was this year.

·       Golf and rugby were mentioned but there was no longer a rugby league museum in Huddersfield and municipal facilities for golf had diminished.

·       It was suggested that it would be beneficial for the stadium to be called the Kirklees Stadium.

·       Kirklees was fortunate to have a range of historical links and heritage assets which should be recognised including the largest open air political rally held by the Chartists in Hartshead, and links to the Luddites across the district including Milnsbridge, the Dumb Steeple in Mirfield and The Star Inn in Roberttown

·       The district had a number of famous actors and should be capitalising on screen tourism.

·       The phraseology in terms of ‘near neighbours’ and ‘distant cousins’ was questioned.

·       The importance of the role and contribution of Elected Members both in terms of their knowledge of activities and groups in their communities, and the leadership and promotion of events, was acknowledged. Officers would ensure that they had the opportunity to respond to the consultation and were involved when delivery plans were rolled out.

·       The work should build upon the success of established events, such as 10k runs and local fetes and galas, noting that some of which had struggled or ceased due to funding issues.

·       It was noted that some of the points raised, such as the naming/identity of Kirklees, lay outside the remit of the Tourism Strategy.

·       The feedback was welcomed and would be taken on board.

RESOLVED -

(1)  That the Creative Development Manager and the Service Director, Culture and Visitor Economy be thanked for presenting the report in respect of the development of the Tourism Strategy.

(2)  That the principles and objectives of the draft strategy be supported and that the comments made be taken into account in its further development.

(3)  That the opportunity to undertake pre-decision scrutiny at an early stage of development of the strategy be welcomed and that a further report be submitted to the Committee following the public consultation.