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Reply ID 68328

The carnival and similar events are all victims of health & safety, not to mention risk adverse insurers and red tape.

Reply ID 68329

Unfortunately things all went a bit pear shaped around 2005 when country wide there was an insistence on health and safety issues at events as Steve has mentioned. Hertford and Ware were badly hit by the setting up of the SAT's (Safety & Advisory Team) at East Herts - who admitted at a public meeting that none of them had ever organised a large public event which co-incided with the appointment of a police logistics and traffic team at Stevenage who insisted on abiding by the letter of the law. I keep the three page letter of advice about Medieval Night just to remind me why it was that so many towns and villages gave up the ghost. That police team gave a presentation about how they organised the Robbie Williams concert at Knebworth and how it all went totally wrong. And they were telling me how to organise something that had gone trouble free for the previous 3 years. What was left of this was the Town Council who were able to continue to run events within the confines of the castle grounds because it was easy to control - castle walls. But they are restricted to numbers and lots of other controls because East Herts own the grounds - not the Town Council, who do not have the staff either to organise the town centre at the same time. Post 2005 the old Fun Day committee had dissipated owing to retirement, relocation and frustration. And East Herts Council placed more emphasis on economic data than events for the funds given to what was then the Hertford Town Centre Management Board. So - no organisers, no funding. Ware have started the Dickensian Night again but organisers are once again faced with issues of Public Liability Insurance, 6 months advance advice of road closures and hundred other things. But - they have overcome all this and it rolls on. To stage Fun Day again is not insurmountable. But all the roads in, through and around Hertford town centre have to be closed and an army of volunteer stewards put in place. The actual event is quite simple. I am the sole survivor of that and have no wish to do it again. I am happy to pass on my experience to any group that would like to run something again but it would start and end with one meeting and then left to your own devices. So many people have come on these forums and asked 'why not this, why not that' but no one ever does anything. I wonder why?

Reply ID 68330

fair enough comment sloop. a tired question i am sure by now! great memories of growing up in Hertford though from these events for lots of people im sure