Worries over risk to events in Shrewsbury Square
Major public events in Shrewsbury including the Christmas lights switch-on and Carols in the Square may have to be cancelled if shopfronts are moved, campaigners say.
Helen Ball, town clerk for Shrewsbury Town Council, gave the warning at a public hearing examining the case for the owners of Princess House to move forward the frontages of several shops further into The Square.
But developers said there was 'not a scrap of evidence' to support the claim.
Groups including the town council claimed at yesterday's hearing in Shirehall that the plan would reduce the amount of space available for large-scale public events – putting many of them in jeopardy due to crowd safety concerns.
Mrs Ball said 250 events take place in The Square each year, with about 50 taking over the whole public space.
"Our big crowd-pulling events like the Christmas lights switch-on and Carols in the Square, which is broadcast around the world by BBC World Service, will be seriously compromised and potentially cancelled for crowd safety," she said.
"These aren't one-off events; these are ones that happen every year and these are the type of events that our residents, business community and visitors want to see take place."
A report on the hearing by inspector John Wilde is expected to go to the Department for Transport in the next three weeks, with no deadline set for a decision.
