Oh dear, Nanny's dreaded health and safety Gestapo have struck again. This time they have chosen to put their unwanted and unwelcome noses and boots into the good people of Liverpool's attempt to have a bit of a street party.
The furore surrounds
The Mathew Street Festival organised on a regular basis by the Beatles old haunt, the Cavern.
Note, someone seems to have pulled the plug on the main part of the site?
The Mathew Street Festival, by last year, had become "Europe's biggest street party"; and was attracting 100,000 people, with big name acts on outdoor stages.
Needless to say such activities are frowned upon by Nanny's chums in the council, the police and the health and safety Gestapo.
-Crowds
-Live music
-Fresh air etc
are all an anathema to Nanny and her trolls.
Therefore it should some as no surprise to learn that Nanny banned the event, at the eleventh hour, citing that hoary (can I say hoary?) old chestnut "health and safety".
Liverpool City Council are claiming that the decision to pull the plug follows independent advice from health and safety consultants,
Capita Symonds, employed by the Liverpool Culture Co.
Seemingly the scale of the current redevelopment work in Liverpool, poses a threat to people's safety at such an event.
Building work, in Liverpool?
Have they never had construction work there before?
Needless to say, Nanny's finest in the shape of Merseyside Police are also in favour of banning it. They claim that the reduction in capacity, huge crowds in an open, licensed environment, means there is a significant safety risk to the public.
It would seem that, according to Nanny, the planning for the event, and discussions between the city council, police and safety officials, cannot fully eliminate the risk.
Errmmmm...can we get this point clear?
You can never
eliminate risk, you can only manage/reduce it.
It is time that these prats stopped fantasising about eliminating risk, and got themselves a heavy does of reality.
The council said:
"
Staff worked right to the 11th hour to try
and produce a workable plan which could
accommodate the festival in the city centre."
Given that the festival was scheduled for the 26th and 27th of this month, a cynic might ask why the hell have they only just come up with the banning order?
It's not as though the redevelopment work was not known about earlier!
Indeed, it seems that only yesterday a tender document went out for pa and lighting companies to tender for the festival.
It seems to me that the council and police were looking around for an excuse to ban the festival and knew that if they left it ot the last minute, the furore could be "managed away" and would not have a chance to build up.
A spokesman from Liverpool City Council was on the BBC this morning, bleating away that there would be an "internal" inquiry into why the decision to ban it was so late in the day.
The only trouble is, that the internal inquiry will be conducted by the self same council that took the lame decision in the first place.
Any bets as to the value of the findings?
How stupid do they really think people are?
Another fine example of local councils getting above themselves and inflicting their unwanted views and rules on the people that, in theory, they work for.
Abolish local councils, they add no value whatsoever!
Here are a few useful emails addresses, urls etc
-
Liverpool City Council-
LCC statement-
Contact Capita Symonds
