Jobs threat at Cheltenham Town Hall and Pump Rooms as cutbacks bite
LANDMARK tourist attractions in Cheltenham have become the latest victims of cutbacks.
Staffing at the iconic Pittville Pump Room and Town Hall could be merged, with four jobs lost, as Cheltenham Borough Council looks to save cash.
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Staff merger: Pittville Pump Rooms
The authority says the "realignment" process was aimed at making sure the venues are run effectively.
Supporters of the Pump Room fear the move could mean its opening hours are reduced or could be shut altogether, apart from when hired for private events.
Tim Cooper, (C, Pittville), said: "The Pump Room is a fabulous venue. Some of the town's attractions should be sacrosanct and this is one of them. I feel it has been let go to its knees in terms of how we use it as a viable tourist venue. The council need to make sure the community gets the most of it by being a bit more imaginative.
"It should be part of the tourist trail and one of the town's centrepiece attractions. That's what I would like to see happen, rather than any move in the other direction that would see it used less."
Fiona Clarke, secretary of the Friends of Pittville Park, said the group would be concerned if the changes meant a cut to visiting hours.
She said: "We knew there was going to be rationalisation but we have yet to see details. I think more could be done with the Pump Room. It's open as an historic building and our concern would be it is kept open to those interested in its architecture. One way to ensure that is to have volunteers there to keep it open, but an army of them would be needed.
"An integrated approach with the Town Hall could work, but we'll be keeping an eye on what happens."
Last year, Pittville Park lost out on a £3 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to make improvements to the land and building.
Plans were dropped following the cash blow and £1m of the borough council's own money for the project has now been directed elsewhere.
In February this year, the borough's chief finance boss Mark Sheldon said the council could face selling off public buildings or charging more for their maintenance if it was to deal with its spiralling costs. The organisers of Cheltenham's Performing Arts Festival at the Town Hall are battling to stay there after council bosses withdrew free use of the hall, which was worth £24,000.
Julie McCarthy, who works in human resources for the council, said: "A restructure is taking place built on aligning the Town Hall and Pump Room teams to ensure resources are being used effectively.
"It could result in four redundancies across both teams and we are consulting with employees to try to redeploy them across the authority."
A petition is due to be handed in by campaigners from the Festival of Performing Arts at the full meeting of Cheltenham Borough Council today.
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by Smiffy, Cheltenham
Saturday, July 03 2010, 10:49PM
“Sam - you say that the previous staff that made the weddings run so well at the Pump Room have already been axed and to avoid booking it for weddings. Do you know anyone who's had a wedding since these cuts and can you let me know your experience? Got a wedding booked there and a tad concerned!”
by Peter L'eauhomme, Glos
Monday, June 28 2010, 3:25PM
“Sam, Chelt
Sorry, but as a contractor, having a 1% payrise in the last two years, I think I know what's required.
Firstly, those that are left, like it or not, will have to work harder. The redundancies usually mean that the remaining jobs are safer, as long as they don't start listening to the unions.
Secondly, I didn't say four jobs wasn't many, I was merely trying to get to the size of the department.
If it's half of the total, then yes, it might mean less bookings or whatever, but if it's only ten percent, then perhaps they werer over staffed in the first place.
And also, I'm not against public sector jobs as such, and growth under the Tories was bound to happen, it's just that the increase under Labour was disproportionate.”
by john, Cheltenham
Monday, June 28 2010, 2:05PM
“mark, my sister-in-law has worked all her working life in HR, 25 years, and hasn't worked for a council or public body at any time in those 25 years.”
by Paul, Cheltenham
Monday, June 28 2010, 1:18PM
“Mark,
Smaller companies don't tend to have a HR / personnel department, we don't, because we outsource all HR/payroll, it's still a job that needs to be done.
Just like cleaning, we don't employ cleaners, but our offices are still cleaned.
Can you name me a private company the size of a typical council, lets say 1,000 full and part-time employees, who don't have a HR department.
Even the C&G, the most efficient building society during the 80s/90s had quite a large HR department, about 15 people when I worked there.”
by Matt H, Cheltenham
Monday, June 28 2010, 1:03PM
“...and how much money has CBC so far spent on the "Civic Pride" ideas...??? Perhaps somebody "in the know" from CBC can confirm...??? And what of "Civic Pride" have we got to show for all this money...??? Nothing, so far.....
Are CBC still looking for an existing building in the town which they can buy & turn into their "new" offices...??? Or is this pie-in-the-sky as well now...???
I guess when savings have to be found that there will be casualties somewhere, but perhaps CBC needs to take a long hard look at itself, and then perhaps they'll realise where some of the money is going.....”
by Colin, Cheltenham
Monday, June 28 2010, 1:00PM
“Mark - And in many, many companies, there are dedicated HR managers. I hope that the heads of departments understand employment law otherwise the savings would be artificial.”
by Spaz, Cheltenham
Monday, June 28 2010, 12:52PM
“It's going to cost us a fortune in the long run, so why don't we close The Pump Room and redevelop the building into badly needed council flats? There isn't enough parking in Cheltenham either, so why not redevelop the land in front of the building too? Rather than spending money on a tatty old building that nobody uses, CBC could generate additional income and serve it's people better.”
by Mark, Glos
Monday, June 28 2010, 12:41PM
“Sorry
HR DEPT”
by Mark, Glos
Monday, June 28 2010, 12:34PM
“Paul
Many private companies do not have a HA dept, its taken on by the heads of the departments.
Its not a full time job either.”
by Sam, Chelt
Monday, June 28 2010, 11:50AM
“Peter L'eauhomme, you miss the point entirely.
The County Council are meant to be trying to save money, but also to increase the spend in Gloucestershire from event revenue. So what do they do? Cut services that will attract outsiders to spend their money here....
4 jobs might not seem many to you, but those 4 jobs which were done at such a high level, by people who loved the Pump Rooms and took pride in their work, brought money and pride into the County.
How about cutting a few of the council department managers jobs instead?”