Advertisement
New round of rows over beer festival
Reporter: BEATRIZ AYALA
Date online: 15 March 2010
THE leader of Oldham Council has hit back in a row over the cost of staging Oldham’s annual beer festival.
Councillor Howard Sykes claims council tax payers have footed tens of thousands of pounds to stage the popular two-day event at the Queen Elizabeth Hall over the past 10 years.
But Mike Robinson, member of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) who organised the event, said figures produced by Councillor Sykes are misleading and the council has never had to fork out to hire their own hall.
The row began in January when Phil Woolas MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth claimed the council had priced the beer festival out of business by charging organisers for the first time.
The festival was due to mark its 24th year but has been axed and replaced by a three-day event held between eight town centre pubs on Friday to Sunday.
Since 1999, organisers traditionally held the festival inside the council-owned Queen Elizabeth Hall for free, in return for a donation to the Mayor’s Appeal Committee from the takings.
However, all political parties agreed to scrap the free hire agreement last year and start charging the festival for the six days it needs to set up, stage and take down the event.
Councillor Sykes said the commercial cost of booking the venue for the full six days last year was £12,000, while festival organisers donated £6,000 to the Mayor’s appeal.
He said: “In 2009 the council tax payer therefore handed over a hidden subsidy of £6,000 to the event. Someone has to pay for the hall staff, heating and missed opportunity costs.
“The end of the free hire agreement was voted for by the three parties.”
Councillor Sykes said festival organisers would not discuss reducing the number of days they wanted.
He added that details of the free hire deal had been dragged into the political arena to preserve an arrangement which was “not justifiable”.
He said: “Opportunity to find a way forward to preserve the event this year was offered — but the MP, his backroom staff and CAMRA via Mike Robinson appeared to have little appetite, preferring instead to play party politics with sensationalist headlines.”
Mr Robinson said: “This figure of £12,000 has been bandied about but it doesn’t cost the council that amount.
“That figure is just the potential hire cost if someone is prepared to hire the Queen Elizabeth hall for six days.
“It is a misleading comment. It does not cost the council money to hire the hall.
“The council has always given us free use of the venue and this year has chosen not too. This year’s CAMRA beer festival has been cancelled because the council wants to charge us.”
Comments
Missed opportunity costs? Howard, a basic understanding of economics tells you that the concept of an opportunity cost relates the the next most desirable alternative forgeone. In the case of the QE Hall this would be an empty building generating zero and costing plenty.. Getting £6,000 is better than nothing.
Funny that the Mayor's Ball on Friday was paying for fleets of free taxis and free places for council staff. How much was charged for use of the hall?
"preferring instead to play party politics with sensationalist headlines"
Pots?
Kettles?
Either Howard Sykes doesn't understand how to calculate true costs or he's trying to pull wool over our eyes. I suspect both are true. Let him release the figures proving his case - or shut up. How much a commercial hire costs is not relevant. The hall is there and costs us money standing empty - so how much extra does it cost to let the Beer Festival use it? Not £12000 or even near it. Heat, light and cleaning costs won't get near £1,000 I bet.
What a surprise, everyone who works at the town hall has their snout in the trough, but when it comes to events for the people "err, I am sorry, we think that's a waste of public money" Mr Sykes, you yourself are one of the biggest wastes of taxpayers money in the boroughs history.
As a tax payer I am not impressed by this, if it cost £12thousand of my money to stage and you only make £6 thousand then as a business you would soon be bankrupt, a bit like this country under woolas and his mates. We can now see why the Council was in such a poor financial condition under the previous rulers oops sorry administration
Bit rich Councillor Sykes,for you to talk about people playing party politics. I am sick of reading about the rows in Oldham, particularly as we the electorate end up paying for all this nonsence. We pay a fortune in Council Tax and receive little or nothing in return.
Yes sykes like the millions you and your other tree hugging friends have taken from the taxpayer on the Vance case, the silly poppy fiasco and of course the silly polo mint re-brand the list goes on and on
we all know that sykes has no idea when it comes to running and budgeting in this current council leadership!
Wasteful is one word that comes to mind
Rows over the beer festival/cutting back the band contest/Vance Miller fiasco/Latics stadium cock up/awayday at the Marriott. Just a few of our esteemed council's legendary lousy performances, led it would seem, by that famous comedy trio, the Marx brothers,er, sorry,Parker, Sykes and Allcock (never has such a name been more applicable)!Ah well, not long now.Tick,tock,tick,tock!
Hmmmmmm £6000 for a beer festival is too much? Just how much did the council spend on the Mela in Alexandra Park last year? and how much will it spend on it this year?
Late last year Oldham got a "red lag" designation for poor public perception. The list cited by Medroo above is what's happened since.
Haven't the Three Stooges learned to look out for things that will jump up and bite their bottom?
(N.B. Three Stooges is better there were five Marx Brothers)
Have Your Say
You know the saying 'Maybe he's talking off the beer?'
I hope it's a success anyway.
By dramasingapore @ 15/03/2010 12:27:20