| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Chiswick House Grounds-new booze rules? | |
| Posted by: | Dan Murphy | |
| Date/Time: | 05/05/11 12:56:00 |
| the cynic in me suspects that this is (as always) about revenue. Chiswick House received a large grant (was it lottery? English Heritage?) to carry out the refurbishments. I would be surprised if, as part of that grant, they were not told they had to become much more "self funding", hence the drive for revenues from the cafe, Operas, concerts, etc. Someone has done the numbers and worked out: If people bring their own drinks, we lose money in the cafe, so ban it. However, we cannot create a byelaw so we have to do it on the basis of some spurious drunk / health & safety. That way it cannot be argued, but we can put the signs up. This forces people to buy their drinks at the cafe, and revenue goes up. (Question - when was the last time anyone saw someone drunk, incapable, dangerous, or causing any problems in Chiswick House? Exactly). They then realised that the opera-goers see the picnic as part of the evening out, and if they were not allowed to bring wine they might not come to the opera. So - allow it for the opera to keep the revenues up. I am finding that if you look at every public / official policy from the point of view of "revenue raising", then the most bone-brained schemes start to make a lot of sense. |