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I went to the early meeting, it was just the usual attempt to placate local residents. I guess the main points were that due to the new flood alleviation 'bunds' they can't use the usual entrance opp Harris Boys to bring in equipment etc, so they & the council are proposing using the gates opp Harris Girls and laying trackway all the way across to the site. I raised the point that that section of road is always busy with cars parked both sides, they said they'd look into restrictions. I also asked if they'd considered that there will be students taking GCSE exams at that time who could be disturbed by the activity, they said they hadn't (what a surprise...) and would talk to the school. I also pointed out that the majority of damage was caused by the trackway, so they are effectively knowingly causing more damage than last year. Note that there is more trackway all around the site than previously. The increased site footprint is apparently replacing space lost to the 'bunds'. They said they used that space for storage, but curiously none of the extra space will be for storage, so it is actually increasing the size of the festival. I pointed out that the entrance area is on a Gaelic football pitch, they said the council said it wouldn't be in use at that time, I responded that it would, by families trying to have picnics & play sports with their kids because the rest of the park has been annexed. I also suggested that this was the start of the festival creeping further east, to which there was no comment. The extra day is for a "community day", details of exactly what this would entail - music, workshops, food, theatre - who requested / wanted it, and how many attendees they expected, were very sketchy. I suggested it was just a fairly transparent attempt to curry favour with the local community and make a precedent for a longer festival, rather than a genuine & honest desire to contribute something truly beneficial. There were no definitive plans to tackle the anti social behaviour, littering or environmental damage over & above the ineffective actions of previous years. Official minicab drop off / pick up will be by the Clock House, but again no way of enforcing this. Gala are constantly citing the opportunities for local acts, traders & employees as benefits from the festival, however they admitted not having any figures to quantity this. I requested they therefore cease to use these as benefits without proof of validity. I once again raised the issue of the wildlife survey they commission being woefully inadequate, as it only surveys within the site, and seems only concerned with bird nests. There are other forms of wildlife - they were unaware of the Stag beetle population in the SW corner - and lots of birds nesting in the surrounding trees which will be disturbed. Again, no response, which confirms it is just a tick box exercise rather than a genuine attempt to guage the impact to flora & fauna. That's all for now, I'm sure others have more. Basically, same as always, but bigger & longer... -
By first mate · Posted
Glad you got sorted. Meantime, hoping for an update from someone on what happened at the GALA consultation meeting with local residents, a few days ago. Especially interested in thinking on their proposed event extension and footprint. -
Coming from LL direction there is no problem getting into TJHC -
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