Minutes:
The
Committee received a verbal update regarding the monitoring of Margam Park. It
was noted to Members that the orangery had become a dedicated vaccination
centre, and the staff and volunteers were thanked for all their hard work. The
majority of the renovation work of the orangery had been completed before the
Health Board had opened the vaccination centre, as the orangery was a
successful wedding venue in South Wales. It was noted that the women’s toilets
and the bride’s room had been refurbished, in addition to the bar area being
renovated. Fairytale Village, which was adjacent to the orangery, had been
completely refurbished during the first lockdown; since then, a grant for
£17,000 had been secured to refurbish the interior of the small cottages and
the castle ahead of Easter. Members learnt that the eating areas had been
invested in, including the purchase of a catering trailer.
The
Members were informed that 72 weddings were booked for the 2022 season, which
was much higher than previous years. It was noted that £135,000 had been
secured from heritage lottery funding to prepare a feasibility report on the
future of Margam Castle. The officer explained that the plan was to then apply
for approximately £30million to repair the castle.
It
was expressed to the Committee that the financial position was very positive;
it was noted that due to the income streams and being below the ring-fenced
budget, money had been reinvested back in to Margam Park, which would result in
the increase of income streams. The officer outlined the current statistics in
regards to the budget, such as the number of visitors, and the money generated
in comparison to the projected figures. It was noted that there had been
publicising opportunities recently, such as Lorraine, in addition to filming
companies returning to the park for production, including BBC, Disney, and
Netflix.
In
response to queries from the Committee, it was clarified that the catering van
had cost approximately £20,000.
The
Committee noted that the refurbishments to the women’s toilets were positive,
but asked for further information on the disabled facilities in place within
the park. In response, it was noted that there were currently good facilities
in the orangery and that the service was in the process of reinvesting some of
the profit from 2021-22 to refurbish two of the toilet blocks in the park,
which included a complete refurbishment of the disabled facilities, under the
Welsh Government Scheme. In addition to this, a grant had been applied for to
put additional disabled facilities in the toilet blocks by the engine house and
in the courtyard.
In
response to queries regarding the loss of income due to the pandemic, it was
confirmed that all of the lost income from weddings and the use of the orangery
had been fully recovered from Welsh Government, which was approximately
£270,000.
Cabinet
Member personal thanks to Paul and the team
The
Committee and the Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Culture thanked the
service for their hard work.