REPORT ON PROGRESS ON BUILDING OF LEISURE CENTRE PROPOSAL SHERBURY
CONFIDENTIAL
To: M. Smith, Head of Analysis of Proposals
From: N. Rafie, Proposal AnalystDate: 1st May 2015
- BACKGROUND
There is dissent in the city of Sherbury, Wealdshre County which includes been from the apparent insufficient leisure amenities and facilities in the city itself. Several social issues have been identified such as a growing crime rate as well as cases of gangs and alcoholism mostly regarding teens of Sherbury which has been blamed on the previously kentioned lack of amenities and things to do in town. Being a countermeasure to the social issues and the lack of facilities, Sherbury has made a decision to start to look at the possibility of building a Leisure Centre.
- FINDINGS
There is a severe lack of leisure amenities and facilities, specifically those that focus on young people which has been deemed the primary cause to the social conditions that have become apparent in Shersbury.
According to police reports there were an increase in the amount of criminal cases in Sherbury specifically cases involving vandalism and drunk and disorderly behaviour involving the teenage demographic. They have seen an increase of 32% and 24% respectively. It needs to be noted that the increase for teen drunk and disorderly behaviour was seen within the last 12 months.
There keeps growing nervous about social workers regarding a surge in teenage alcoholism and roaming teenage gangs present at the town centre and housing estates. The social employees attribute these growing social issues to "boredom produced from little or nothing to do in the evenings.
There are just two youth clubs in the town, both of which are oversubscribed. Denial of entry has been met with attempts to disrupt the youth clubs' activities by older teenagers.
The local weekly newspaper, The Sherbury Chronicle has been campaigning for improvements in leisure facilities over these last 6 weeks. The paper has utilised their medium to campaign with scathing editorials with headlines such as "Council Fuddy-duddies forget their youth.
Readers of the Sherbury Chronicle have changed their views about the issue have changed from sympathetic to condemnatory because of the correspondence the readers and the paper have which has been labelled as "Lively.
Town Councillors of Sherbury have been actively canvassing for the building of the leisure centre in order to give they consider the city to be sorely lacking amenities.
Sherbury Town Councillor James Hillingdon described the current situation as a "shocking state of affairs pointing out that Sherbury has nothing to offer its young people in the evenings but violent films in its local cinema and alcoholic beverages from its ten central public houses at a recently available council meeting.
There have been cases of local sports clubs and associations making representation to councillors and County Hall officials.
Some Sherbury sports enthusiasts are travelling thirty miles or even more in order to find the amenities that they seek.
There are existing sports facilities in Sherbury however they predominantly provide for outdoor sports.
There are also sports facilities that are given for indoor sports locally hall however this is reportedly over crowded.
There have been several activities which may have been suggested for inclusion in virtually any future Leisure Centre include ping pong, badminton, basketball, tennis, swimming, judo, karate, volleyball, ten-pin bowling, snooker and billiards, gymnastics and then for older members yoga, relaxation classes and keep fit as well as a club room for darts dominoes and quieter activities.
A rough projection for the building of the leisure centre has been estimated at 1. 8 million
Two sites have been discovered as suited to the leisure centre the first at Charles Bowley Recreation Park in Northern Sherbury and the next in Central Sherbury.
There are many options available for the funding of the project, increasing council tax together with securing government grants as well as funding from the Lottery Commission.
There are local sports associations that have suggested possible fund raising activities.
The LEADER of the Council has formed a working party that comprises of representatives from the look Department, Architectural Department, Community Liaison office and Spots Advisory Office due to mounting pressure.
The working party is tasked with investigating the need for a leisure centre, make projections regarding building and maintenance costs, make suggestion in regards to to location and make proposals regarding the types of activities it will house and the layout of various halls and rooms as well as give a set of advice to be submitted to the Council for debate.
- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
It is safe to state that the root cause of the social issues that are affecting Sherbury is centred on its young people and having less amenities and insufficient activities which they can expand their energies on.
There are facilities and youth clubs in the city that provide activities for young people however due to their size and insufficient facilities it is not enough to provide for all of them. This often brings about conflict between those who are already associated with the clubs and those who are not. Therefore may exacerbate the increasing crime rate as the disruption of club activities may lead to even less people being associated with the clubs.
The only things to do in town such as watching movies and partaking in the consumption of alcohol are contributing even more to the advent of the social issues in Sherbury such as vandalism, gangs and teenage alcoholism.
The insufficient facilities is not only facilitating the increase of social issues in Sherbury, additionally it is rendering it highly inconvenient for many sports enthusiasts who've to travel a significant distance to be able to gain access to facilities that permit them to partake in their sports. This inconvenience can also be considered a loss to the neighborhood economy for Sherbury as these potential consumers now bring their business to other towns as well as a loss of the to groom local talent in terms of competitive events.
All in all I think that Sherbury should proceed with the building of the leisure centre as this would solve a lot of Sherbury's current issues. It has to be noted that while it will help deter the effects of the social issues in Sherbury it needs to be used in conjunction with other policies as well as knowing that the project will need time and its own effects will need time to be observed. So patience should be exercised by the Sherbury council as well as its residents.
Although the cost of building of the centre is quite high (1. 8 million) it should be understood that the social costs will be even higher with crime rates increasing as well as teens turning to alcoholism and gang behaviour, the social repercussions of not doing anything will be higher than the actual financial costs.
The provision of activities will allow the youth to expand their energies on activities that are productive and can hopefully help the youth gain a sense of identity from something positive rather than needing to conclude in a gang or embracing alcohol.
Sherbury must ensure that they are able to deal with the social issues directly rather than putting almost all their hopes on the leisure centre to help make the issues disappear completely. Sherbury needs to increase security as well as enforce new laws that make sure that the teens will not have access to alcohol too freely. Maybe something along the lines of increasing police patrols in areas that contain been frequented by these gangs as well as restricting the general public houses from selling alcoholic beverages past a certain time for many who are below age 20.
The existing youth clubs have to be nurtured and aided further in order in reducing the consequences of social issues. Since there are already established Youth Clubs in Sherbury, the council wouldn't normally have to do any actual work other than maybe fund the clubs in order to increase their capacity to take new members. By expanding the capacity of the clubs as well as providing them new operating quarters in the new Leisure Centre, the council would be killing two birds with one stone, providing activities for the youth as well as gaining occupants for the centre.
Establishing the Leisure Centre will benefit the local sporting community greatly plus they understand this numerous local sports associations supporting the proposal as well as offering to help fund the project. The council would do well to remember this as the town will benefit greatly if the local sports associations flourish as this allows the town to produce talent from youth who will have something productive to be involved with. In addition, it must be considered that the previous situation where Sherbury sports enthusiast were traveling far to be able to access sports facilities, the building of the leisure centre may attract enthusiast from other towns as well. This can help the not only strengthen the sporting community but aid the local economy as well.
Out of both locations, I would suggest the council build it in the Northern Suburbs as a central location, while good for businesses in the area may not have sufficient space to add all the possible activities that can be provided by the centre as well as not having the ability to provide enough parking space for users of the centre.
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3. a) Opening - The opening of the interview is exactly what will set the tone for all of those other interview, it is in the opening of interview where in fact the purpose of the interview is manufactured clear therefore. After the reason for the interview is manufactured clear the process is made a lot more easier as all parties will understand why they is there and what it is expected of them.
The opening will establish the tone and atmosphere of the interview as well as indicate the amount of formality or informality that the interview will need. By setting the tone of the interview, interviewees can be placed at ease, or unease according from what the interviewer wants. It is in the opening where in fact the flow of the interview is set.
Questions In an interview there are two simple guidelines, ask the right questions and pay attention to the answers. An interviewer should prepare the questions that needs to be asked in order to elicit information from the interviewee that is desirable and therefore making the interview productive.
Pacing of the questions should be managed carefully as important information may be glossed over or leading to the interviewee digressing. As previously mentioned It really is paramount for the interviewer to be able to ask the right questions, nonetheless it equally as important for the interviewer to ask at the right time.
Closure Closing the interview is really as important as opening it, for this is in the closure where all information should be summarised, leading to an easy confirmation of information and identifying if the objectives of the interview have been met.
It needs to be noted that the positioning of both parties are clarified at the closure of the interview. Whether a compromise or agreement has been made or not and clear communication of the from both parties will further enable whether further action should be studied of course, if so, in what form. It really is in the closure that decisions should be made only if one or both parties have the authority and information to make it.
Follow Up Once the interview is completed it's important for the interviewer to check out assimilate the information gleaned from the interview. The information should be recorded properly in order to build up an archive of the interview and the interviewee thus making any future attempts to locate information about the interview or interviewee easier.
A decision needs to be made following a interview, which is easier done once all in formation is assimilated thus any determination of any decision can be made therefore of the interview will be more concise and easily made. Also any actions that were agreed upon during the interview should be followed up on.
b)
4. a)
Polite It's important for those employed in customer support to be polite to the parties they are simply dealing with. Workers have to be in a position to talk properly with good manners for the calling party to leave the conversation feeling as if they were dealt with in the correct manner. Even when a customer calls to complain it's important that the workers maintain their composure but still be polite therefore diffusing a potentially explosive situation and getting the complaining party leave the conversation with no resent and feeling better.
Knowledgeable Staff members have to have information that pertains to the subjects that calling parties will be inquiring about, whether this be teenagers, fitness, the facilities or the centre itself and other information that may be considered relevant to these subjects. Therefore having the ability to provide the right information to the inquiring parties and having answered their questions satisfactorily is just what they have to have the ability to do. Because a lot of inquirers will not have the information or even incomplete information therefore rendering them unable to make the best decision as to whether or not they should or can utilise the facilities that the centre provides.
Informative Being a lot of calling parties will be inquiring to many subjects as well as ask for advice, personnel have to be able to answer the calling parties to the best of their abilities. This might imply that the staff members have to really know what they are talking about as well as have the ability to make clear properly and clearly therefore understanding that getting the calling parties leave with understanding how to utilise the info distributed by the employee is just as important as getting the inquiring party leave with the right information.
Understanding To be a lot of parties calling in will be complaining it is important that the staff be able to listen and understand exactly what the party is calling to complain about. And although the staff themselves might not trust what the customer is complaining about, that is beside the point, hey have to be in a position to make the complaining party feel better about the situation, and being understanding will ensure that the employee have the ability to choose the right words to carry out so. However, additionally it is important for the staff member to follow up with these complaints and not only offer empty apologies if the complaints be valid.
Loquacious As the job involves a lot of answering questions and in general talking, the workers have to be able to talk well. Therefore being able to keep a conversation going while at the same time ensuring that they may be answering the inquiries or hearing complaints is a core requirement of the job, it is because while a good listener will have all the right information, someone who is able to talk to the calling parties will help the calling party feel as though as they are being treated well.
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b)
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