ITEM 5(c) Democratic Services DRAFT Report of the Major Event Management Review Group February 2014 www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/scrutiny Membership: Councillor Cec Tallack (Chair) Councillors Mick Legg and Phil Wharton Overview and Scrutiny Officer: Lesley Sung (Tel: 01908 252325)
Contents Page Introduction by the Chair 3 Membership and Scope of the Review 4 Officer Support / Witnesses 4 Review Group Considerations: Milton Keynes as a Major Sporting/Events City - Background - A Broad Perspective - A Local Perspective - Strengths and Weaknesses The Visitor Experience - Role of the Safety Advisory Group - Role of the Police - Reasons to Stay / Re-Visit MK Visitor Accommodation Travelling and Wayfinding The Future Findings and Recommendations 5 5 6 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 2
Introduction The Major Event Management Review Group was established to consider all aspects of major event management and to seek out the best approach to ensure that people visiting and attending events leave the area with a good impression of both the event itself and the Borough of Milton Keynes. By drawing on past experience, the Group considered lessons learned and the strengths and weaknesses of Milton Keynes as a destination for major events. Recognising the value of past successful events such as the Red Bull Racing Home Run and MK International Festival, and appreciating how these events enhanced Milton Keynes national and international reputation as a great place to hold major events, the Group wished to explore how the Council could further promote and capitalise on such events held in the future. The Group heard from external witnesses consultants Four Communications, who had already worked with the Council in the preparation of the bid for the Rugby World Cup; Destination:MK to enable the Group to look at Milton Keynes as a sporting / events city from a more local perspective, and Rod Hardie from Thames Valley Police. The Group also wanted to consider elements that contributed to a good visitor experience by scrutinising the role of the Safety Review Group and the partnership working in place, enabling the safe management of a large influx of people all travelling to one event. I would like to take this opportunity to give my personal thanks to Members of the Review Group, Councillors Mick Legg and Phil Wharton for their contributions and to thank Geoff Snelson, Chris Londy, Rachael Kinglsey and Lesley Sung for their collective help and support. Councillor Cec Tallack Chair of the Major Event Management Review Group February 2014 3
Membership and Scope of the Review The Environment & Transport Select Committee, at its meeting held on Tuesday 9 July 2013, recommended to the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee, that a Major Event Management Review Group be established with a membership of 1:1:1 from the main political groups on the Council. The Management Committee agreed to the setting up of the Group. The following councillors were nominated to serve on the Review Group: Councillor Cec Tallack (Chair) Councillor Mick Legg Councillor Phil Wharton To tie in with the Environment & Transport Select Committee s work programme theme of Visiting MK, the Select Committee suggested that the Review Group should consider all aspects of major event management within the borough. At its first meeting held on 25 November 2013, the Review Group elected Councillor Cec Tallack as its Chair. Officer Support / Witnesses Officer support was provided by: Overview & Scrutiny Officer: Lesley Sung Witnesses (Milton Keynes Council): Geoff Snelson (Director of Strategy) Rachael Kingsley (Head of Highways) Chris Londy (Regulatory Investigations Manager) Richard Davis (Sports Development Manager) Witnesses (External): Alun James and Alex Russell - Four Communications (Marketing Consultants for the Rugby World Cup 2015) Steven Gordon-Wilson (Destination:MK) Rod Hardie (Thames Valley Police) 4
Review Group Considerations The Review Group met on 4 occasions from November 2013 to February 2014 to carry out the scrutiny of the Council s approach to major event management within the borough. 1. Background 1.1 Every year, there are a large number of events taking place throughout the borough of Milton Keynes, all differing vastly in size and prestige. During 2013/2014 there were over 160 events taking place in Milton Keynes ranging from Christmas fayres, league one football fixtures at MK Dons stadium, cycling events and MK Marathon. Events taking place in Milton Keynes may take place in a specific location such as a concert at the Bowl or a football match at the Stadium whilst other events may be located in an area of the borough such as Stony Stratford Town Fayre. Other events may cover a wider area such as Milton Keynes Marathon or which may cover an area outside of Milton Keynes with a start and/or finish within the MK area such as the Evans Ride It cycling sportive. 1.2 Milton Keynes has some distinct event locations such as The National Bowl, Arena, Stadium:MK and not too far outside of the borough, the Silverstone circuit. Badminton England has recently been granted permission to build its new headquarters at the National Bowl and bids for expansion of facilities at the National Bowl are currently under consideration. Recent planning permission for the redevelopment of the Leisure Plaza in CMK includes the refurbishment of Planet Ice, creating one of the best ice rinks in the country. 1.3 Milton Keynes will be hosting a number of prestigious events in the near future including the English National Badminton Championships at the Arena on 8 th and 9 th February 2014 and three Rugby World Cup group stage matches at Stadium:MK in 2015. Three major music events at the National Bowl are expected to attract large numbers of people into Milton Keynes this year. 2. Milton Keynes as a Major Sporting / Events City A Broad Perspective 2.1 The Group initially considered Milton Keynes, not just as a place to host major events, but more broadly, the challenges and opportunities for Milton Keynes as a destination; an attractive place that would encourage visitors to stay longer than the time spent at a particular event or encourage them to want to return in the future. The Group went on to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Milton Keynes as a major eventing city in terms of its geography, access to facilities, places of interest etc and identified where there were gaps in what Milton Keynes could offer. 2.2 Appealing towns and cities may possess an identity or moniker e.g. garden city, heritage site; it may have places of interest or may be a place known for its reputation and meaning which attracts tourists, businesses and/or industry. For example, Stratford on Avon is well known for its culture and heritage; Blackpool for its tower, seaside and funfair; Loughborough for sports and education. 2.3 From an overview analysis undertaken by Four Communications (Marketing Consultants), Milton Keynes was perceived as well connected and commutable, 5
the home of Red Bull, innovative and a comfortable place to live but it was also seen as bland, boring and limited in culture and heritage. 2.4 Milton Keynes as a new city has little heritage, although the area does include the significant Bletchley Park which has been designated as a World Heritage Site. The Group recognised that development in other areas was needed to attract visitors. Four Communications analysis identified some of the strengths and weaknesses of Milton Keynes as a sporting destination, the development opportunities available and threats to consider for the future, some of which are included in the Table in paragraph 4.1. 2.5 The Group considered how sport could help position Milton Keynes as a centre for sports development and innovation by associating itself with success and high performance and by showcasing events and attracting businesses related to the sports sector. According to Four Communications, positioning MK as a sporting city would increase the number of visitors to Milton Keynes, attracting a core audience of sports business leaders motivated by high performance, facilities and technology; sports enthusiasts and tourists with an interest in modern design. Four Communications also stressed that an events strategy needs to be located in a wider strategy for promotion and development of the city. 3. Milton Keynes as a Major Sporting / Events City A Local Perspective 3.1 The Group considered the strengths and weaknesses of Milton Keynes as a major sporting / events city from a local perspective by considering the roles of both Destination:MK and the Council and how each work in partnership with other agencies to promote Milton Keynes as an attractive place to host events and to visit. 3.2 Destination:MK is an independent not-for-profit company, funded predominantly by its members, typically local businesses involved in the visitor economy. It provides a tourism and information service for Milton Keynes dealing with enquiries from members of the public, businesses and organisations that wish to visit the area. The organisation aims to enhance the visitor experience by providing free venue and accommodation services and by running a number of marketing campaigns throughout the year, the service is encouraging leisure and business customers to Milton Keynes. 3.3 Destination:MK has recently launched a Destination Management Plan detailing how tourism industry stakeholders within Milton Keynes could deliver a successful and sustainable visitor economy over the next ten years. It has also recently relaunched a brand new website and has been working on the upgrade of a phone app. 3.4 The Group considered the success and impact of recent events that had given rise to Milton Keynes reputation as an international sporting/events city, such examples being the Foo Fighters concert at the National Bowl and the JLS concert at Stadium:MK; the Super Bike World Championships at Silverstone; international football England v Finland Under 21 and the staging of the rugby Heineken Cup quarter and semi-final, both at Stadium:MK which brought in large numbers of overseas fans to Milton Keynes. According to a study undertaken by the Northampton Saints (quarter-finalists of the Rugby Heineken Cup), around 6
3,500 Ulster fans travelled to Milton Keynes, providing an average expenditure of 250 per person, the majority spent on food and drink (38%) and hotels/accommodation (23%). The Association of Milton Keynes Hoteliers carried out research with its members to estimate the spend on accommodation during the Foo Fighters concert weekend, reporting income of around 640,000 (excluding food, drink, transport or any additional entertainment). 3.5 During June and July, Destination:MK, received over 38,000 website visits with over 100,000 page views. For the Foo Fighter s concert, the website provided a dedicated information page which included the latest travel, parking, running times and accommodation information (providing a dedicated on-line accommodation booking service run on behalf of its members). 4. Strengths and Weaknesses An Overall Perspective 4.1 The Group discussed the strengths and weaknesses of Milton Keynes as a place to hold major events, from both a broad and more local perspective: Strengths Red Bull association Proximity to Silverstone Rugby World Cup 2015 National Badminton Centre Bletchley Park World Heritage Site International Festival The city s innovative design Modern infrastructure and conference facilities Central location and well connected easy commuting Fast flowing local road network Home to unique / iconic facilities e.g National Bowl, Xscape A concentration / commonality of strong local offers. Young and affluent population Opportunities Rugby World Cup 2015 cultural activation; training camps; grassroots and club rugby Engaging ambassadors Greg Rutherford; Ian Poulter; Red Bull / F1 drivers Other major sporting events and top class training camps/facilities National Badminton Centre University and higher education links with sport Weaknesses Limited National Governing Bodies Hockey National Centre issues Limited cultural assets or traditional heritage / landmarks Difficult to navigate Insufficient amount of visitor accommodation during the week Public Transport Wayfinding and signage Threats F1 moves Red Bull moves Rugby flops Staging of poor quality events damage to reputation 7
5. The Visitor Experience The Group wanted to consider the visitor experience, particularly, the safety aspect of an event and the reasons why a visitor may want to stay longer in Milton Keynes or wish to return at a later date. (a) Role of the Safety Advisory Group 5.1 The Milton Keynes Safety Advisory Group (SAG) has been established to encourage and promote the safe management and organisation of events in Milton Keynes. It provides a single point of contact to ensure that event organisers receive consistent advice concerning safety and planning arrangements, to help them fulfil their statutory responsibilities and duty of care. 5.2 The Milton Keynes Safety Advisory Group meets on a monthly basis and consists of representatives from Milton Keynes Council (Regulatory Unit, Emergency Planning and Highways), Thames Valley Police, Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service, South Central Ambulance Service and the Emergency Planning Officer at MK Hospital. Other representatives may be invited to attend meetings of the SAG as appropriate, including event organiser, voluntary and commercial first aid providers, the Parks Trust, local business/community etc. 5.3 The SAG provides a forum for member organisations to consider event related matters, discuss any perceived risks, and develop and provide guidance to member agencies and event organisers. The SAG has no enforcement powers but may give advice to other agencies or bodies in the exercise of their powers. The SAG neither discourages, or encourages bodies from holding public events but it does advise, support and encourage the organisation of safe, legal and responsible events. For example, the use of appropriate signage for cars and pedestrians, the provision of appropriate facilities such as toilets and access to water. 5.4 The SAG has terms of reference to ensure the promotion of safety and welfare at events in Milton Keynes. In some instances the Group will recommend that a multi-agency Emergency Planning Contingency Plan should be considered if an event meets a number of criteria in respect of a new event involving an expected crowd of more than 10,000; whether or not the event will directly impact on Milton Keynes communities not involved in the event i.e. Red Bull Racing event; if the event requires a specific traffic management plan; and an event where Police Silver Control will be running or on stand-by. (b) Role of the Police 5.5 For any event, the event organisers are responsible for their own footprint. The Police have a major role in ensuring the safety of visitors, ensuring that visitors can make their way safely to and from an event i.e. liaising with train operators to provide extra trains and the prevention of crime and disorder. 8
(c) Reasons to Stay or Re-Visit Milton Keynes 5.6 Milton Keynes is unique, and by thinking differently, using its assets to best effect, Milton Keynes can offer unique opportunities, different experiences and a range of varied events. 5.7 There are many reasons why people are attracted to Milton Keynes, for example, the city s innovative design attracts global attention from urban planners.. (Refer to paragraphs 1.1, 3.4 and the Table at 4.1). Large numbers of people visit Milton Keynes to attend specific events, facilitated by excellent sporting and events facilities. Milton Keynes has been host to a number of successful high quality events such as the Red Bull Racing Event, the International Festival and Milton Keynes Summer of Culture in 2012 a programme of small events taking place over the summer period. Future events such as the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and the National Badminton Championships in February 2014 will surely help to secure Milton Keynes reputation as a truly international sporting and events city. 5.8 But, what happens when things go wrong? The reputation of Milton Keynes as a great place to hold major events could be very easily damaged if very low quality events take place attracting unwelcome publicity in the media. The recent MK Winter Wonderland event provides an example of how such an event had been negatively targeted by the media and an example of how social media had helped to escalate the event to national news. The Group did consider that the media s stereotypical view of Milton Keynes may have contributed to the spread of such news and that similar incidents occurring in other areas may not have been subject to such a negative response. 5.9 Milton Keynes is an area providing a range of arts and heritage opportunities and a visitor could very easily spend a full day undertaking arts and heritage activities in the area, for example, Bletchley Park, which has been designated a world heritage site, and the city s innovative design attracts global attention from urban planners On the whole, visitors are not attracted to Milton Keynes for these reasons alone but they do provide visitors with opportunities to explore Milton Keynes which will help to enhance the visitor experience and ensure Milton Keynes is perceived as a good place to visit. 5.10 The Group was very disappointed to hear that Milton Keynes cultural partners including MKC were unsuccessful in securing the highly competitive Cultural Destination funding from Arts Council England; a three year programme bringing cultural organisations together with tourism, business and private partners to promote Milton Keynes as an international culture city. The project would have engaged with users throughout the 3 year period, testing ideas and launching new initiatives at the International Festival 2014 and 2016, the Rugby World Cup 2015 and Milton Keynes 50 th Anniversary celebrations, including the expansion of MK Gallery and the new MK Museum in January 2017. Three strands to the bid covered the creation of family friendly trails which would raise the profile of and link cultural organisations to visitor destination through the unique walking and cycling redway routes; the creation of packages for visitors which could offer accommodation, cultural experiences and full day / weekend programmes; and to engage a wayfinding specialist to integrate cultural requirements into the existing highway signage plan, including road and venue signage, on-site 9
interpretation and gateways. The partners involved are keen to still implement elements of the bid. 5.11 Experiential opportunities ensures that Milton Keynes provides a strong local offer and visitors have the opportunity to partake in unique experiences such as wakeboarding, water-skiing and Aerial Extreme which is the biggest high rope adventure course in the South of England. Four Communications had highlighted that Milton Keynes offered a commonality of events and facilities, for example, the visitors attracted to the National Bowl for the Swedish House Mafia concert were very likely to visit and use the facilities at the Xscape. 6. Visitor Accommodation 61 Whilst there are few places to stay / limited hotel accommodation available during the week, there is an abundance of availability over the weekends, indicating that Milton Keynes is good at attracting business visitors and less so at attracting numbers visiting Milton Keynes for leisure purposes. 7. Travelling and Wayfinding 7.1 It was acknowledged that Milton Keynes is difficult to navigate, exacerbated by a lack of information points, mapping data and bus information. If Milton Keynes is to promote itself as an international sporting and events city, it is vital that visitors should have the ability to move freely and conveniently around the city. Inappropriate signage and lack of information, particularly in locations where directions to major visitor areas would be expected, will most definitely detract from the good visitor experience. Attractions and places of interest that make up part of the visitor economy may remain unattended if such locations are not highlighted to visitors of the city. An example frequently discussed by Members of the Group was a visitor s difficulty to find easily, their destination when exiting CMK train station. 7.2 A real time mobility map and a bespoke visitor phone app is being developed as part of the Council s SMART cities initiative which will help to assist visitors finding their way around Milton Keynes. 7.3 Large events may require a Traffic Management Plan and it is the responsibility of an event organiser to produce a plan which would satisfy the Safety Advisory Group. The Review Group suggested that in some circumstances, an organiser should be encouraged to provide free transport if a large number of visitors is expected and which may impact greatly the residents of an event locality. 8 The Future 8.1 The Group considered the potential for Milton Keynes as a Capital of Culture and whether or not it could be a contender for such an accolade. If the results of such investigations found that this was not a feasible option for Milton Keynes, investigating the prospect may highlight other opportunities that counld enhance Milton Keynes reputation as an attractive place to visit for arts and culture. 10
8.2 The Group also considered how Milton Keynes could capitalise upon the Olympic legacy and its impact on the development of grassroots sport and opportunities to engage residents in development of Milton Keynes as a major sporting and events city. Findings and Recommendations 9.1 Milton Keynes is an area providing a range of arts and heritage opportunities which help to support the visitor economy but recognises that visitors do not come to Milton Keynes specifically for those reasons. The Group acknowledged that Milton Keynes provided a strong local offer and assessed whether or not, facilities such as MK Theatre were being promoted to the best of their advantage. The Group recommends that the Council explores the prospect of Milton Keynes as a contender for the accolade of Capital of Culture and the potential for marketing Milton Keynes arts and heritage attractions outside of Milton Keynes. 9.2 The Group acknowledged that the role of the Safety Advisory Group was to encourage and promote the safe management and organisation of events in Milton Keynes and not to comment on the quality of events in Milton Keynes. Keeping in mind the reputational damage that may ensue from the staging of a poor quality event, the Council recommends development of a low cost guide providing advice to event organisers on some of the major issues to consider when hosting a major event in Milton Keynes. 9.3 The Group acknowledge the lack of accommodation available for visitors to Milton Keynes, particularly during the week. The Group recommends that the Council explores ways to facilitate an increase in hotel provision within the area and the potential for the provision of campsites and camping facilities close to sports and event venues. 9.4 The Group considered how Milton Keynes could capitalise upon the Olympic legacy and looked at how this could enhance the development of grassroots sport and encourage resident engagement in developing Milton Keynes as a major sporting and events city. The Group recommends that the Council assess the capacity to build on the Olympic legacy and explore the potential for developing, in consultation with Community Action:MK a major sports / events volunteer pool, including through the preparations for the Rugby World Cup 2015. 9.5 The Group recognised the difficulties for visitors navigating around Milton Keynes and that any attempts for Milton Keynes to be a truly international sporting and events base, it was important that visitors have access to accurate and up to date travel and directional information. 11
Whilst the Group welcomed the work being undertaken as part of the SMART cities initiative and the development of a bespoke visitor phone app, the Group recommends that the Council investigate the provision of appropriate and effective wayfinding and signage to sporting / event venues and other places of interest; the provision of information points at advantageous locations, and the provision of up to date bus and coach information and location maps at the train station, bus shelters, and the coachway. 9.6 The Group recognised the reputational value of hosting events such as the International Festival. Some of the events taking place under its banner this year would be re-located to areas outside of Central Milton Keynes, for example, Willen Lake. Taking into account the potential difficulties of navigating between venues, the Group was of the opinion that this could create a possible disconnect between events, which may have a detrimental impact on Milton Keynes reputation as a good place for hosting well-planned events. The Group recommends that the Council enter into discussions with the event organiser for them to provide free transport to and from major event venues. 9.7 The Group recommends that a similar approach be adopted for the Rugby World Cup 2015 and that free transport be provided to and from events from appropriate locations. 12
Democratic Services Overview and Scrutiny Milton Keynes Council Civic Offices 1 Saxon Gate East Central Milton Keynes MK9 3EJ T 01908 25 E scrutiny@milton-keynes.gov.uk www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/scrutiny 13