Boost of music acts to Telford's economy revealed - but councillors wary of park 'overuse'

Orchard Live returns to Telford Town Park this weekend with UB40 playing on Saturday and N-Dubz the following day.

Around 2,000 people are set to attend the events hosted by Orchard Live – which has previously brought the likes of Olly Murs, Tom Jones and Bryan Adams to the QEII Arena in the town park.

Councillor Carolyn Healy, cabinet member for green spaces, heritage and leisure said that both events this weekend will provide Telford with an economic boost.

“We’d expect that quite a lot of people will then go into the town and Southwater to have something to eat and drink or stay over,” said Councillor Healy.

“Even if each person spends £10 then it’s a boost to the local economy. It’s part of a bigger piece for us working with Orchard Live as well as our own events in the QEII Arena in Telford Town Park.”

The outdoor bowl QEII Arena sits near the Telford International Centre and also hosts the Balloon Fiesta and Drone Show.

Councillor Healy said that the outdoor venue has helped to showcase Telford and bring an estimated £20 million into the local economy last year alone.

“Telford is really emerging as that destination for outdoor music and cultural festivals,” she added.

“In the last year, these events have attracted about 220,000 people from across the region and across the UK. We estimated that impact to be about a £20 miillion spend in the local economy. That is really significant and supports jobs in hospitality, catering and night-time economy sectors.

“These events are really important, they put Telford on the map and bring people to our area. It also showcases Telford, people may come for the first time for a concert and see Southwater, the town centre and beautiful town park.

“People then realise that this is a good place to come back too. The ambition for Southwater was to create that night-time economy, that link between the town centre and town park.

“So you just have a hub of activity and people come, whether it’s families in the daytime or adults in the evening. It caters for everybody and between the town centre, Southwater and town park, you’ve just got everything you need.”

Councillor Healy says that having the outdoor venue surrounded by the facilities in Southwater and Telford Town Centre is helping to attract big artists.

She added: “It’s offering a unique experience really as a lot of outdoor venues are in National Trust properties or country estates where you are a long way from a town centre to be able to access other facilities.

“What we are seeing is that ability to attract those bigger acts. It’s not about doing more it’s really about the quality and getting the bigger and better acts.

“We’re really attracting some big names and UB40 is proving really popular. Local people have a chance to watch these bands who otherwise they would have to travel a long way for and might not be able to do that.”

However, Councillor Healy says the council are wary of overusing the town park venue and taking away from its original use.

“We don’t want to damage the town park with having too many things going on,” she added.

“We want people to be able to use the space freely as when we have an event like this we have to close that section off.”