Minutes 20th October 2009

Crystal Palace & Norwood Chamber of Commerce

MINUTES OF MEETING
20th October 2009: Patrick's Bar, Westow Hill

Those Present:
Ray Hall* (New Crystal Palace, Chair)
Andrew Parfitt* (Honorary Secretary)
Matthew Ball (Electron Repro Ltd)
Alistair Cameron (Joseph Paxton Society)
John Collins (Leisure Development Partners)
Michael Collins (Leisure Development Partners)
Sarah Dacre (Amphlett Lissimore)
Christopher Edwards (Telis Ltd)
Peter George (GO Contaminated Land Solutions)
John Greatrex@ (Great Exhibitions Ltd)
Jenny Hall (guest)
Helen McIntosh (McIntosh Associates)
Girish Mohile (New Crystal Palace)
Stan Morris@ (Shinebright)
Sue Nagle* (Bambino)
Peter Phillips (Mind in Croydon)
Jonathan Rowlandson (Jonathan Rowlandson Design)
Andy Stem (Bambino)

* Management Committee
@ Ambassador

Apologies:
Hannah Bougen* (Full Spectrum Integration)
George Filbey@ (Instrument and Gauge Engineering and Cllr, LB Croydon)
Stephen Jopson (Synergy)
Frank Lissimore* (Amphlett Lissimore)
Amber Rusk (Croydon Enterprise)

1. Introduction
Ray Hall welcomed all to Patrick’s Bar and thanked Stan Morris and his wife, Christine, for providing the excellent catering. He apologised for not having the meeting more widely publicized, which has resulted in a smaller attendance than usual. Sue Nagle noted how many in the community are still exhausted after having been involved in organising the excellent public meeting of the Picture Palace Campaign on Sunday 18th at the Queen’s Hotel, which attracted nearly 1,000 people.

2. Minutes of AGM
The minutes of the AGM of 29th September had been received by all members and were agreed as a fair record.

3. Presentation: John and Michael Collins (Leisure Development Partners) “How Crystal Palace can become a Global Leisure Destination”
Ray gave a warm welcome to John and Michael Collins from Leisure Development Partners.
http://leisuredevelopment.co.uk

He had first met John in the mid-1990s when working on a master plan for Gibraltar, and since then had worked closely with him, and his son, Michael, in the context of the New Crystal Palace project, for which they have given consistent and solid support. He showed the beautiful hand-drawn plans for the New Crystal Palace funfair, “a design for happiness”, which they had hoped to erect on Blackheath Common as a celebration of the Millennium.

John Collins said that he had a passion for the leisure industry. His grandfather, Pat Collins, had established a travelling fun-fair in the Midlands around the turn of the last century. And in 1906 Pat had taken out a lease on an amusement park in Sutton Coldfield which included a small-scale replica of the Crystal Palace that was successfully used as an entertainment venue until 1963.

John helped his father run the amusement park at Barry Island for 40 years, until he was asked by Tussauds Group in the early 1980s to establish the Chessington World of Adventures. He also designed theme parks at Alton Towers and Port Aventura in Spain, and has run attractions of every scale. Leisure can be a huge catalyst for the development of an area.

Michael studied economics, and has become a specialist in the economics of leisure. He aims to generate projects which are financially sustainable, and this requires close attention to the local market. His many successful ventures include work for Disney Paris, the National History Museum and Baltimore Inner Harbour. The aim is to shape places which encourage people to “live, work and play in one space” and which enhance areas in need of regeneration.

Michael said that Crystal Palace has a very special history and has the potential for an equally bright future. He could see the scope for combining cutting-edge sports and entertainment at the New Crystal Palace in a way which would be sustainable, year after year, enriching people’s lives and having a major direct and indirect economic impact. It would bring enormous benefits for the businesses in the Crystal Palace Triangle, particularly because the attractions would be on a “pay as you go” basis – encouraging people to dip in and out of the venue.

All agreed that the plans were very exciting and would be immensely positive for the local area. The New Crystal Palace would be a unique selling point, drawing visitors from far and wide. And with a rich mixture of sports and leisure uses, continually being refreshed and upgraded, people would visit time after time.

John Greatrex noted how the Hyde Park Crystal Palace had been the venue for the first Great Exhibition and Expo in the world. Ray agreed that there are great opportunities for the New Crystal Palace to build upon this legacy.

Summing up, Ray said that he was very keen for the New Crystal Palace to be an exemplar of economic, social, sporting and environmental sustainability. He thanked Michael and John Collins for showing how this could happen and said that it would be fantastic to have them back to present to a larger meeting of the Chamber once their plans are further advanced.

4. Programme for 2009-10
Ray outlined the Chamber’s programme for the coming year (see Annex A). We intend to summarise each of the three “terms” in an edition of The Journal.
Andy noted that the fifth Crystal Palace Festival will be held on Saturday 28th November. He would welcome the Chamber of Commerce taking this opportunity to publicise its activities.

5. Any Other Business
Sue said that at the UNIT meeting of 15th October, the Crystal Palace and Triangle Safer Neighbourhoods Team said that they had acquired some boxing equipment. They were keen to organise activities for the local community, subject to finding additional funding and a suitable venue.

6. A Dramatic Surprise
John Greatrex directed Ray and Jenny Hall through the first scene of his play, which is about the lives of Joseph and Sarah Paxton and their fantastic achievements, including the Crystal Palace. Those present participated in the production, which formed an excellent end to the meeting.

7. Date of Next Meeting
Tuesday 17th November, Patrick’s Bar, 6.30 for 6.45 pm. Hannah Bougen will lead the Mount Sustainability event, which will discuss how we can - through environmental, economic and social means – help our locality and our planet to live. Crystal Palace could become an exemplar.


Circulation: all members of the Crystal Palace & Norwood Chamber of Commerce


ANNEX A
CRYSTAL PALACE & NORWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Programme 2009 - 2010

AUTUMN

20.10.09 Making Crystal Palace a global leisure destination: John Collins

21.10.09 Committee

17.11.09 Mount Sustainability: led by Hannah Bougen: how we can help our planet to live

01.12.09 Committee

15.12.09 Chamber Christmas party time: organised by Sue + team

SPRING

05.01.10 Committee

19.01.10 Crystal Palace Commerce: our legacy: Ken Kiss of Crystal Palace Museum*

02.02.10 Committee

23.02.10 Our market context: Sir Bob Scott, chair of South London Business

09.03.10 Committee

23.03.10 Crystal Palace International + Ambassadors night: led by Hannah & Ray

06.04.10 Committee

20.04.10 Debate with Parliamentary candidates

SUMMER

04.05.10 Committee

18.05.10 Summer Showcase: Antenna Studios + Haynes Lane Market

01.06.10 Committee

22.06.10 Summer Showcase: Coopers Yard

06.07.10 Committee

20.07.10 Summer barbeque: Ray's house

03.08.10 Committee

14.09.10 AGM



NB: August break * Date to be confirmed All meetings are on Tuesdays