Next two days ‘crucial for festival’

Aug 7 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

THE next 48 hours will be crucial in determining whether the Matthew Street Festival can go ahead, the leader of the city council said last night.

Since returning from holiday on Sunday, Coun Warren Bradley has been involved in “back-to-back” meetings and last night said he was “hopeful that we will still be able to recreate the very best traditions of the Mathew Street Festival.”

Labour’s deputy leader Cllr Paul Brant said this represented a “complete volte face” from what Cllr Bradley said at the weekend.

On Friday night, Cllr Bradley had said: “Not staging the festival is not an option for me and it will go ahead.

“There is talk about moving it to one of our parks, but my view is that takes away the ambience of what it is all about and I want it in the city centre and that is where it will be.”

Last night, he said his number one priority was to find a way to stage “as much of the Mathew Street Festival as is possible and to ensure the people of the city have a great and safe music bank holiday weekend.”

Last night he was locked in meetings after already meeting officers from the city council, Culture Company, police and business leaders, Chamber of Commerce and Cavern City Tours.

He said: “I have been hugely impressed by the way everyone is pulling together, public and private sector, and with their commitment and determination to do everything possible to make this a reality.

“That work is going on. The next 48 hours will be crucial. However, I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge we face at this late stage.

“My overriding concern, and that of the officers, is to make sure that the events that take place take place safely.

“I have been fully briefed today about the serious public safety issues involved. Their safety is paramount. We cannot put anyone at risk of injury.”

He said the major safety concerns were the biggest hurdle to overcome.

“I have sent officers away to investigate every possible option open to us.

“ I am hopeful that we will still be able to re-create the very best traditions of the Mathew Street Festival.

“Like everyone in the city, I am bitterly disappointed that our ability to rescue the event has been severely hampered by the late notice we were given about the health and safety difficulties.

“This will be fully investigated by the inquiry set up to examine the matter.”

Cllr Brant said it was essential the council kept the public’s confidence in its ability to stage events like the Mathew Street Festival.

“Cllr Bradley’s statement represents a complete volte face from what he was saying on Saturday.

“Then there were no ifs or buts. From my perspective this represents, yet again, Warren Bradley making promises he can’t deliver.

“Making promises on the hoof that he can’t deliver is precisely the kind of thing that damages confidence.

“The public deserve honesty not spin.”

He re-iterated his call for Cllr Bradley to resign and added: “This adds to the reason why he should resign.”

He said it was essential that whether the event went ahead or not that systems were in place to deal with crowds that would inevitably turn up.

davidbartlett