Rutland County Council correctly refuse Oakham Town Partnership
request for planned August event.
The first anyone knew of this event was after the illegal fly
posting which appeared last month.
The Town Partnership when it was led by local councillor and
Mayor Alf Dewis known for his bullying dictatorial style leadership
decided without consulting residents, the town council or police.
the event would happen. It is hard to believe this man once ran
a consulting firm. (Mr Dewis would like me to point out that he
did not organise this event but he attended an initial meeting
with the company who were to put on the event)
The illegal advertising was also very misleading because it
was highly unlikely residents would have seen formula one
racing cars in town the cars were more likely to be vintage
or classic sports cars.
Residents objected to the event due to lack of consultation.
The police have objected.
The Town Partnership currently has new leadership and
I and others are hoping they will take a serious look at
its role within our community.
It is not primarily an events organiser.
It would be good to see it become more focussed on
what it should do for the business community and town.
It would be good to see it do similar as nearby Melton Mowbray.
A partnership which unites and empowers businesses to actively improve the town centre/BID area, generating £645,000 of funding for the town centre over the BID’s 5 year programme.
Email sent to Oakham Town Partnership from Rutland County Council
"including risk assessments" Oakham Town Councils annual governance
report also included this failing.
Dear Sirs,
I have recently received a communication from Leicestershire Constabulary offering a full and frank objection to the proposed event.
I have attached their comments for your information.
As I had previously stated in the minutes, if the Police did not offer their support, and were not happy with the process for road closures, then the event could not proceed.
It is with regret, that in this instance, I cannot grant approval for the road closure for this event.
Whilst I am supportive of the event in principal, the unfeasibly short timescales imposed on both RCC and Leicestershire Constabulary for an event of this nature have meant that it is untenable at the moment.
Should OTP and the Organisers wish to run an event such as this in the future, RCC would be supportive, providing a suitable lead time was agreed to allow for the necessary processes to be put in place.
With other large events, such as cycle races, the organisers are talking to us nearly 12 months in advance. I would suggest a similar timescale for this event, with the organisers and promoters carrying out much greater research into their proposal, including risk assessments, licenses and consultation.
