(a)

the Working Plymouth scrutiny panel had received an update on the History Centre at a previous meeting on 30 September 2015 whereby officers provided a detailed sense of the building and ambitions; at this meeting Members would be introduced to Event Communications, the lead consultant for the project, whose representatives would discuss methodology, the content and community engagement;

(b)

Event Communications had been in business for 30 years, was considered to be Europe’s largest and leading visitor destination industry and had delivered over 200 destination projects since its establishment. Examples of projects delivered by Event Communications, relevant to the Plymouth History Centre, were presented including the following:

·         Experience of the Titanic – Belfast

·         Bletchley Park – Heritage Site

·         The Roman Baths

·         Mshed – Bristol

·         Southbank London

(c)

Event Communications had been appointed as consultants for the History Centre at the end of April 2015; the first phase of the development included master-planning whereby the entire visitor experience would be discussed and the use of space planned. Officers would work closely with architects in order to ensure that spaces were open and offered the flexibility required to meet aspirations;

(d)

the master-plan concept included two floors of primarily public spaces; areas included a large open foyer (facing St Luke’s Church) as well as galleries which would focus on telling the stories of Plymouth;

(e)

the team were aware of the need to create spaces that would result in repeat visitation and interest, and were exploring opportunities to create a space where visitors could learn new skills and look into their own history within the city;

(f)

between September and November 2015 officers had been undertaking content development and consultations; specific parts of the community had been contacted regarding the preliminary ideas for the content;  partners and stakeholders had been engaged;

(g)

there was an acknowledgement that not all of Plymouth’s history could be presented/ displayed in the History Centre however exhibitions would be rotated to tell as many stories as possible and to add interest; officers were currently viewing ‘elevator pictures’ as a catalyst for discussing what the content of the galleries might contain;

(h)

in terms of next steps, the Heritage Lottery Fund bid would be undertaken between November 2015 to March 2016, the content of design exhibitions needed to be developed, public contribution needed to be defined, requirements of the architectural scheme needed to be coordinated and the risk review needed to be undertaken;

(i)

confirmation of the Heritage Lottery Fund would be notified to officers in June 2016 in preparation for the 2020 opening.

(j)

Officers confirmed that they would be engaging with representatives at the Citadel and Stonehouse Barracks as well as the Naval Heritage Centre in order to present a broader scope of the city’s defences;

(k)

on opening in 2020 the History Centre exhibitions and displays would not form the ‘fixed’ visitor experience – part of the design of the project centred around the space being flexible to accommodate new exhibitions echoing that of national museums and galleries; a balance was required between providing creative space, telling Plymouth’s history and having flexible programmable space;

(l)

Officers would aim to engage with the Lord Mayor’s Mace Bearers due to their extensive knowledge of the city and lord mayoralty;

(m)

David Draffan was the Senior Responsible Officer for the project and the Council was responsible for the History Centre however this was a partnership and other stakeholders were actively engaged. A bid was currently with the Arts Council for £4m and officers were awaiting a response;

(n)

this project had cross party support as Councillor Glenn Jordan was a member of the board;

(o)

the total funding for the project was £32.11m (£28.07m capital and £4.04m revenue); the majority of the revenue costs was funded through the Heritage Lottery Fund however as round two of the bid the Council was required to present a plan of resilience;

(p)

it was considered that the Mayflower ‘story’ specifically in 2020 would have an international appeal, especially for US visitors;

(q)

officers were aiming to have a shortlist of possible projects for the History Centre by the middle of 2016 in time for the Heritage Lottery Fund;

(r)

Members of the public were encouraged to take part in the consultation for the History Centre by accessing the following weblink on the Council’s website: loveourpast@plymouth.gov.uk; people were also encouraged to register on the mailing list to receive updates and take part in roadshow events. A programme of events would be circulated to Working Plymouth Members for their information;

(s)

a variety of different exhibition techniques were being used to ensure that some of the content of the History Centre would be relevant to the school curriculum; there would also be more than double the learning space in the new development than is provided on the existing site;

(t)

the building was being designed to ensure maximum flexibility of space therefore officers were working closely with architects to ensure that walls could be moved and that the placement of steel frames would not hinder this;

(u)

officers  accepted the points raised by the Chair that the Working Plymouth scrutiny panel requested to keep an eye on how the History Centre will look, the governance arrangements and that future meetings of the panel are scheduled in line with History Centre timeline to ensure optimum engagement;

(v)

there was an offer from the Assistant Director for Economic Development to attend a select number of community workshops, local surgeries or ‘have your say meetings’ to continue the engagement process with residents; it was agreed that an email would be sent out to Councillors advising them of this invitation.

1.

that the panel continue to monitor progress with the History Centre project planning, content design, funding and build and that meetings are arranged to coincide with future key milestones in the project plan;

(that in addition to 1 above)

2.

that the panel receive information on all consultation to date and the planned consultation timeframe to ensure that Working Plymouth have an ongoing opportunity to feed into the process further

3.

that as the project progresses and gathers momentum the panel have a monitoring role to ensure that effective governance arrangements continue to be in place.