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Petersfield Christmas Festival cancellation under fire

Mon 26th Jul 2010, 19:22

The decision by the district council to cancel the 2010 Petersfield Christmas Festival has come under fire from one of the founders of the event. Philip Haines, of Petersfield Events, said today (27 July) that the axeing of the popular event by East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) was "extremely disappointing". And he added: "The reasons for cancellation don’t make sense in my view."

East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) anncounced the cancellation yesterday, saying that their decision was due to "a shortage of sponsorship money, traditionally drawn from local businesses, [which] means it is highly unlikely the festival would break even. And it could pull valuable resources away from the council’s core services."

Phillip Haines, founder of the Petersfield Festivities and  the local Food Festival, countered: "Petersfield Events and have raised more in sponsorship this year than ever before, and plan their own events to breakeven – while at the same time raising thousands of pounds for charities and EHDC itself.

"The real problem is that councils are not event organizers and they should have left this to people with experience. Instead they came into the marketplace with little planning or consultation with the business community, spending tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money, and have now exited just as quickly.

"Organizing big events in town takes lots of time and energy, cajoling, persuading, pleading and knocking heads together," Philip Haines added, "not something the council is best placed to do.”

He also sounded a warning about the future of the Festivities and Food Festival. “For a while, EHDC was extremely keen on events like this and worked with us to make them easier to stage. This has now changed completely. Despite the fact that we plan everything well in advance, it is taking longer than ever, and with increasing difficulty, to get the necessary agreements in place with EHDC.

"In fact this August Bank Holiday could also be the last Festivities – not because of budget cuts or lack of sponsorship, but because of the amount of time and red tape taken in dealing with the council," Philip Haines claimed. "David Cameron talks about the Big Society – this is a classic case of councils making it difficult, rather than easy for volunteers.”

Petersfield Events is a volunteer organisation which founded the Petersfield Festivities and Local Food Festival – www.petersfieldevents.co.uk )

The EHDC position

Councillor David Parkinson, EHDC Leader, explained their reasons for stopping the event: “It would be wrong to spend money on a festival at a time when we are looking to make efficiency savings across all our services. We know the decision will be met with disappointment; we are disappointed ourselves not to have the means to deliver the festival in 2010.

"But it is already clear the sponsorship on which the event relies, drawn from the local business community, will understandably be reduced. We always have difficult choices to make at East Hampshire District Council and ultimately the demands of our core services must take priority.”

An EHDC spokesman added that this was not necessarily the end of the Christmas festival, which "was extremely popular with residents and enjoyed two successful years, drawing in thousands of visitors from across the area. Although the festival has been stopped in 2010, a return in future, less financially difficult, years remains a possibility."