Festival plans are finalised
Saturday 25th April 2009, 12:14PM BST.
Arrangements for Oswestry’s youth music festival, which was controversially described by a leading councillor as a “waste of taxpayers’ money”, have been finalised by organisers.
Despite the outspoken criticism by long-serving town councillor Bill Benyon, festival organisers have announced next year’s event will take place from March 4 to 7 in the Methodist Church and Christ Church.
Mr Benyon claimed at a town council meeting last month the cost of staging the festival did not represent value for money for Oswestry taxpayers.
He said only about 17 per cent of the near 200 entrants actually came from Oswestry, but the town council spent £11,800 on this year’s festival.
Mr Benyon suggested the money would be better spent on providing facilities for the youth of the town and called for plans for next year’s festival to be frozen until a best value review was carried out on the council’s financial support of the event.
But councillors rejected the criticism and reaffirmed their support for the event.
Town councillor Martin Bennett, chairman of the festival organising committee, said today the show would go on as planned.
He said: “This is a marvellous opportunity for young people to come and make music in Oswestry.
“The top class adjudicators that have again been booked will be on hand to provide encouragement and objective advice on every participants’ performance.”
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Does it matter that only 17 per cent of entrants are from Oswestry? This is a full 4 day event which bring in visitors to Oswestry, who shop in the shops, eat in the cafes/resturants, pay for parking all day, visit the local tourist sites.
How can anyone say this doesn’t benefit Oswestry.
Why not spend the money on providing facilities for the youth of the town for it just to be vandalised by the select few?
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