Here's your Friday update, covering:draft St David's Hall contract details shared; go ahead for former tax office demolition; and partnering with Friends of Bute Park for Secret Garden Café.

St David's Hall VEAT notice published

A VEAT (Voluntary Ex-Ante Transparency) notice providing details of the draft contract negotiated with Academy Music Group (AMG) Ltd to lease and operate St David's Hall has been published.

The publication of the VEAT notice allows a 28-day opportunity for the offer made by AMG to be challenged and follows a six-week marketing exercise inviting offers from theatre, arts and venue services organisations interested in becoming custodian of St David's Hall. The process, which aimed to ensure best value was achieved, concluded with no formal bids being made.

The VEAT notice confirms that:

• The proposed arrangement will involve the grant of a 45-year lease for the venue.
• AMG will be obliged to repair and maintain the Venue, ensure its long-term future and that it remains open for the benefit of the people and City of Cardiff.
• The Council may also receive a share of Venue profits over the lifetime of the lease.
• The lease obliges AMG to manage and repair a list of defects. AMG will be responsible for maintaining the condition of the building and would have flexibility to invest in and improve the Venue.
• It is AMG's responsibility to manage and maintain the Venue, so it is safe and operational.
• The lease will require AMG to continue and maintain the classical music/community programme as part of the Venue's annual offering, reserving at least 80 days per annum for hosting/staging such events. This is made-up of 60 days within peak periods and 20 days off-peak.
• The Cardiff Singer of the World event (which normally takes 10 days) will also continue to be hosted every other year, in addition to the 80 days.
• There is also an obligation on AMG to provide operational and venue management services to support the classical programme events. There will be no service charge payable by the Council to AMG for the provision of these Services.
• The value of the procurement (i.e. potential net profit) is estimated to be between £45 million and £67 million over the 45 year lease.
• All current Venue staff are expected to TUPE transfer to AMG.

Cabinet Member for Culture, Parks and Event, Cllr Jennifer Burke, said: "We are determined to secure a sustainable future for St David's Hall and the publication of this VEAT notice confirms the commitments made by AMG to repair and maintain the Hall, and provide a minimum of 80 days every year for the classical programme, and provides a further opportunity for their offer to be challenged."

The VEAT notice has been published on the Sell 2 Wales website and can be viewed  here.

Green light for Tŷ Glas demolition: Plans in place to minimise disruption

Work has commenced on the demolition of the former HMRC office building at Tŷ Glas in Llanishen.

Following the securing of prior planning permission with conditions for demolition in August last year, these conditions have now been discharged and full structural demolition has started.

The Council acquired the Tŷ Glas site in October 2021 to provide a clear site to bring forward strategic education proposals under the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme. There are currently no specific plans for the site and any future proposals would be subject to community engagement as well as consultation via the planning process.

Now, with the discharge of conditions approved, demolition contractor Erith, who have been on site since March carrying out work to remove non-structural fixtures and fittings, have begun the demolition proper which is expected to take around a year.

Residents living near the site are being kept informed of developments and mitigation measures are in place to minimise the impact of the work on the local community.

Cabinet Member for Investment and Development, Cllr Russell Goodway, said: "We understand that a demolition of this scale and over a such a period of time will be of concern to some people in the area but want to give reassurances that plans are in place to ensure the impact of this work is minimised as much as possible.

"We know there will be some disruption and in advance, we are grateful for residents' and local businesses' patience as we carry out this work that will ultimately pave the way for considerable investment in education provision in this part of the city in the future."

Read more  here

Cardiff Council partners with Friends of Bute Park to develop Secret Garden Café tender

Cardiff Council has released details of a new joint working arrangement with the Friends of Bute Park to ensure the needs of park users are considered when shaping the future operating model for the Secret Garden Café.

The Friends of Bute Park approached the Council recently offering to work with the authority to ensure that any new café offer meets the needs of park users.

To begin that process, the Council has today announced that it will work with the Friends group to shape the specifications and the evaluation criteria of a tender document which will establish a new operating model for the café.

To allow enough time for Cardiff Council to fully engage with the Friends of Bute Park in finalising the specifications and evaluation criteria, the original 5th June tender publication date is being extended by four weeks, to Monday 3rd July.

Pending the conclusion of the procurement exercise, the Council has offered the current operator an extension of the Tenancy at Will which allows them to continue running the cafe through the transition to any new arrangements. If the current operator puts in a successful bid, they will continue to run the café under the new arrangements, after that point.

Commenting on the new joint-working arrangements, Cabinet Member for Culture, Parks and Events, Cllr Jennifer Burke, said: "I welcome the Friends of Bute Park's offer to work with the Council and today's announcement that the tender specifications and evaluation criteria will be developed in partnership.

"Not only will this mean that the tender we put out to market reflects the wishes of visitors to the park; it also means that we further reinforce the transparency of the process and introduces an added guarantee of impartiality when it comes to selecting the successful submission. The café has been part of the Bute Park community for over ten years and there's no doubting the contribution it has made to the park in that time. The council is encouraging the current café operator, who has run the site for the past five years, to make a bid so that it can be considered alongside any other submissions from other potential operators."

Ian Body, Chair of the New Friends of Bute Park, said: "The group welcomes the opportunity to help co-ordinate involvement from the public users of Bute Park who, as key stakeholders, have so much to contribute in terms of what they would like to see the Secret Garden Café facility able to offer."

Read more here