Row over 80s Rocks clash continues

Representatives of the board of trustees of the West Mid Show will attend a meeting of Shrewsbury Town Council on March 20, where they plan to raise their concerns about the clash of dates between the show and the Shrewsbury Rocks concert.

The concert, which will feature Billy Ocean, ABC, and Tony Hadley, is taking place at The Quarry on Saturday, May 27.

The date is the same as the West Mid Show, one of the fixtures of the county calendar, with thousands of people normally attending.

An item listed on the council agenda states: "Trustees of the West Midlands Show Ground wish to express their continued disappoint that officers of the town council will not reschedule the Shrewsbury Rocks booking in the Quarry Park scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 27."

Last month Ian Bebbington, director of the Shropshire and West Midlands Agricultural Society, said: "The trustees of the show are extremely disappointed that Shrewsbury Town Council has decided to make The Quarry available for another major event on the same day, and we have written to the town council to ask why such little consideration has been given to our existing major event and the logistics of how things are going to work."

Shrewsbury Town Council's clerk Helen Ball responded by saying the council believes the events can complement each other.

She said: "Bank holiday weekends are times when both residents and visitors to Shrewsbury are looking for a variety of activities to take part in. During the August Bank Holiday weekend last year, the Folk Festival, Fake Festival and the Steam Rally provided a varied offer and the town's infrastructure to support these events worked well.

"In allowing the Quarry to be used for a retro concert during the May Bank Holiday period, the town council believes that having two very different events, which attract very different audiences can complement rather than conflict as has been suggested.