| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:No live music events in Gunnersbury this summer | |
| Posted by: | Francis Rowe | |
| Date/Time: | 13/05/26 15:15:00 |
| Hi David, I'm not averse to the odd bit of council bashing when it is deserved but I really don't think it applies in this case particularly as the council don't actually manage the park. There are lots of events taking place in the park including outdoor cinema but the big festivals are the ones that bring in the serious amount of money. When the park was jointly run by Hounslow and Ealing it was a drain on council finances. The transfer to a CIC took it off the books and led to a period of sustained improvement with the new entity being very successful in bringing grant funding. Grant giving bodies these days are reluctant to dispense money to organisations that aren't doing their own revenue generation. Therefore festivals are baked in to the proposition for Gunnersbury and I don't think anyone makes a secret of that. Is it the council's fault that this system has collapsed, hopefully on a temporary basis? I don't see how. The only way they could have stopped it happening was by refusing to do the review but can you imagine the storm that would have created? People who say I would think differently if the park was on my door step and I had people doing unspeakable things in my front garden. I honestly don't think I would - the joy of having such a massive green space nearby would outweigh a few days of noise and annoyance each year. If what happens proves terminal for events at Gunnersbury and the CIC collapses, we all will have a grievance because the shortfall will be covered by local authorities meaning increased charges or reduced services. |