Members of the Smalltown and Dullbridge (SaD) Town Council White Elephant Enclosure Mismanagement Committee will this week find out exactly how ‘successful’ the WEE has been over the last month.
When faced with concern from Smalltown and Dullbridge residents about the costs involved with running the WEE, Squire Teflon and Former-Councillor Fencesitter often repeat the excuse that it’s not about the money, it’s also about the huge benefits the facility brings to the members of the community who use it. So let’s see how those numbers stack up.
Figures for regular weekly users are always calculated using the Smalltown Culture and Arts Manager’s (SCAM) special formula – i.e. count each person four times in a month. So the Smalltown Singing Club is put at 52 people, Hurling at 46 people and the Painting Club at 63. In terms of individual numbers – that is the number of actual people who use the WEE, this would really be 12 singers, 10 hurlers and 14 painters. A total of 36 users per week.
These lower user figures are borne out by a line at the bottom of the chart which declares that during 2023 a total of 1,594 people attended the participation sessions – or circa 30 people a week. Hardly a large number. But at least the much larger majority of Smalltown and Dullbridge residents can sleep easy at night knowing that their Council Tax is helping to keep 30 people off the streets for an hour or so every week.
The only event held during the two month time period was the Smalltown Pantomime Society’s Brother Moose, which did see great ticket sales of around 128 people for each of the six performances, however, this was run on a hire basis, meaning the WEE only receives a set amount for the use of the building. Likely to be enough money to pay the WEE staff for two days.
At the very bottom of the report the SCAM compares ticket sales for December 2022 to January 2023, which saw 931 tickets sold with revenue of £12,594.00.
During the most recent December 2023 to January 2024 period 1035 tickets were sold, making a total of £17,139.35 in revenue, however it should be noted that following the advice of the Top Secret Consultants, more events were booked and paid for, meaning costs also increased.
According to the SCAM’s report during 2023 a total of 9,447, or around 181 people per week, attended events at the WEE. However, it should be noted that once again many of the people who make up this figure have been counted more than once as some residents, such as Former-Councillor Fencesitter, attend more than one event in a year. In addition, several events were cancelled due to poor ticket sales and many others took place with less than 50 audience members.
Interestingly, apart from the figures which are included in the single sheet monthly income and expenditure figures, the SCAM does not put a detailed set of figures relating to costs before the WEE Mismanagement Committee. The Committee only ever see figures relating to the number of users and the revenue.
Were members of the WEE Mismanagement Committee to keep a closer eye on the expenditure they would be able to see that the venue haemorrhages money, but once again as far as our esteemed Councillors are concerned a huge monthly loss is not a problem because the WEE is a valuable community asset, as the 36 members of the community who use it will attest.
It’s fair to say that for the remaining far larger majority of residents the WEE comes nowhere near ticking the ‘Value for Money’ box when it comes to assessing their Council Tax bills.