ONE of the men blamed for the collapse of the Mathew Street festival last night said it was the council’s desire to do it on the cheap that led to its cancellation.

Lee Forde, former events manager in the Culture Company, who had organised the festival for the previous five years, said he was forced to quit as a matter of principle because he was worried budget cuts had affected safe delivery.

He said it had originally been planned to hold a major part of the festival on St George’s plateau but hat Merseytravel would not agree to the closure of Lime Street.

Once he was told it had to go ahead in the city centre, he carried out a feasibility study into the costs.

“In May I went to Chris Green with a budget request of between £650,000 and £700,000 which was a similar budget as what we spent the previous year.

“The increase in costs were for the safety aspects that we had to put in place because large open spaces were not available.”

This was because use of the Pier Head had been ruled out because of building work and St George’s plateau could not be used.

“We needed that much because we needed to ensure there wasn’t any crushing, we’re still a city that remembers Hillsborough.”

But by that stage, the budget had been cut from £500,000 to £400,000.

“I was never comfortable with the way the budget had been allocated. It was always a compromise which had the potential to be unsafe for the public.”

“The potential was there that we would not have been able to put adequate safety measures in place.

“In regards my resignation, it comes back to money and safety. I was not prepared to compromise my integrity or future career.”

He said that if someone had been injured or killed he would have been held personally liable.

“But that’s what they were asking me to risk when they gave me an inadequate budget.

“But my main concern was the public safety. “

The report highlighted a “deterioration” in the relationship between Mr Green and Mr Forde.

“On a personal level, I don’t have an axe to grind with Chris, I find him quite amenable.

“But from a work perspective I found him slow to respond, it was difficult.

“But that’s not want this is about. My frustrations were around the approval of the budget.”

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