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Row erupts as Parish Council axes fun day

by Matthew Davis
18/ 6/2008

OFFERTON Parish Council have cancelled their highly anticipated summer community event blaming ‘adverse publicity’.

Tempers flared at the Parish Council’s briefing meeting on Monday evening as surprised councillors demanded to know why the event planned for July 6 - to celebrate Offerton’s historical links with Dodge City, USA - was cancelled, without consultation with the full council.

Last Thursday, Parish Council chairman, Councillor Keith Ryan made the decision to cancel the event in consultation with the parish clerk and vic-chairman and despite attempts at the meeting by newly-elected Coun Edward Gallacher and Coun Wendy Meikle to overturn the decision, their motion was defeated.

Coun Ryan told the angry meeting: "Nobody more than I regrets the decision to cancel it as much as I do. But I felt time was of the essence.

"I cancelled it because of adverse publicity about this council in the press about our recent trip to Dodge City and the public reaction we have had.  As chairman I refuse to be party to anything that casts aspertions against the council.This event was organised to celebrate our links to Dodge City and to go ahead with it would have seen us get a hiding to nothing, the accusations made were too serious for people to forget. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and as Harry Truman said, ‘If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen’."

Coun Gallacher forwarded a motion to save the event as he was angered by the chairman’s decision and questioned the need to take the event away from local residents.

He said: "The consultation seems to have been limited, it would have been a good idea to ask all the members of the council first. It seems a shame that the people of Offerton are going to be deprived of an event because of a decision regarding adverse publicity. But that should be a separate issue and the event should still take place.  The residents should not be penalised and now a couple of hundred children are going to miss out on a really good day."

Coun Marilyn Torode voiced her personal concerns at the cancellation as she was the main organiser of the event and with three weeks to go had everything finalised.

She said: "Ironically I finalised the last item on the Thursday I received the call to say it was cancelled.  I feel it is a real shame, no one would have remembered what has been said, it wouldn’t have attracted too much adverse reaction. I now feel our credibility is at stake for future events."

While Coun Meikle added: "This event was for the community, we should have all been consulted, it now looks like we have lost face to the public, the event should have gone on."