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Mathew Street Festival is off, but Beatles Week is still on!
LIVERPOOL’S 2007
Mathew Street Festival has been cancelled at the 11th hour. The
Culture Company stopped the event, citing health and safety reasons,
on Thursday 2 August 2007. This cancellation does not affect the
Beatles Week, which is the main part of the Mathew Street Festival.
It also does not affect the city’s ability to stage other
large-scale events, including the city’s 800th birthday celebrations
on 28 August 2007.
On 3 August, Liberal Democrat
Councillor, Flo Clucas, spoke to shocked members of Liverpool City
Council and won unanimous support for a rescue package. The council
are calling for:- "Heads to roll at the highest level."
as it is the City’s 800th birthday this year and only a few months
off the 2008 Capital of Culture events Not only that, but it 40th
anniversary of the release of the Sgt Pepper’s album and the 50th
anniversary of the first meeting of Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
Most people have pointed out that this shock decision taken by the
Culture Company has not only harms the city's reputation, both
nationally and internationally, but also damages the confidence of
tourists in the 2008 events.
The decision was taken by the Culture
Company followed independent advice from Capita Symonds Limited, the
country’s leading experts in health and safety at outdoor events.
They were employed by the Liverpool Culture Company to undertake a
comprehensive review of the plans for the festival, and highlighted
the loss of the Pier Head and extensive regeneration work taking
place in the city centre in August 2007, which has reduced
Liverpool’s capacity to host an event which regularly attracts more
than 100,000 people to the city.
The advice given to the Liverpool Culture Company states that due to
the redevelopment of the Pier Head which, in recent years, has
served as a focal point for the festival, it's ability to
accommodate up to 34,800 visitors at any one time has been lost.
This loss in accommodation would see the visitors to this year’s
festival move into the city streets, many of which are also
undergoing regeneration works. This reduction in capacity, combined
with huge crowds in an open, licensed environment would mean there
is a significant safety risk to the public. Despite the detailed
planning for the event, and discussions between the city council,
police and safety officials, ways cannot be found to fully eliminate
the risk. This advice, given by Capita Symonds Limited, was backed
by Merseyside Police. Merseyside Police’s Assistant Chief Constable,
Helen King, said:- “Having had sight of the advice from the
independent consultants to Liverpool Culture Company, we fully
understand why they have made the decision to cancel Mathew Street
festival this year. Public safety has to be the paramount
consideration.”
On Thursday 2 August, the four founding
members of the Beatle Week's Festival, held a press conference in
the Cavern Club and stressed that:- "It was not us that
cancelled it." and that:- “The outdoor stages have
been cancelled, but with regard to the rest of the events in the
pubs and clubs across the city, these fantastic events will run as
normal. Sadly, the press release sent out is giving out completely
the wrong message!
We do though see why the Culture Company has taken this decision, as
Liverpool is very sensitive to Heath and Safety. ..."
...continued... |
...continued...
"... Liverpool is
possibly more sensitive than other cities due to passed tragedies
and plays now heavily on the side of caution. Why this problem could
not have been foreseen sooner is another question? The city has
changed so much in such a short time and it was inevitable this type
of problem would happen.
We would also like to stress that
if the City Council cannot come up with a rescue package, this
year’s event will not be suitable for children. Sadly, it will only
be held in licensed venues and for that reason children will be
unable to attend the events.
The event was originally organised as the Beatles Week. We started
out small and it is only recently the free part of the festival has
grown. This has helped in dealing with the massive amounts of people
the week has attracted in recent years. This, however, has altered,
in some ways, the feel and the meaning of the event. This
cancellation will be a good way of seeing just how important the
events are to the city.
As for 2008 in a strange way, this decision, is only a hiccup. The
City is getting a new events arena and also lots more opportunities
for finding new venues for band stages, as the building work is
completed. In 2008 the Beatles Festival will be more interesting and
less problematic, as the majority of building work will be completed
in time for the Capital of Culture events."
More information about this years
Beatles Week see this
LINK.
DRIVING WITH HAYFEVER IS NOT TO BE SNEEZED AT!
WITH this
summer expected to have the highest pollen counts in 3 years,
Motaquip, a leading UK parts supplier and the National Pollen and
Aerobiology Research Unit, University of Worcester, are warning
hayfever sufferers to take extra care on the roads. Currently,
over 12 million people suffer from hayfever across the country, with
common symptoms such as bouts of sneezing and itchy eyes detrimental
to driving ability.
Professor Jean Emberlin, director of the National Pollen and
Aerobiology Research Unit, explains:- “When you sneeze, the
eyes close for at least a second – often more while you recover. If
you consider the distance that can be covered in the time it takes
to sneeze you, at 30mph, you would travel 27 metres (88 feet), at
60mph you would travel 54 metres (176 feet). At 70 mph, up to 63
metres (205 feet) could be covered blind.”
However, very few drivers are aware that a vehicle’s cabin filter
can be the solution to these problems. According to Motaquip, a
visit to your local independent garage to get your vehicle’s cabin
filter changed can help reduce the symptoms of hayfever and improve
driver safety.
Howard Partridge, Motaquip’s marketing manager, said:- “Whilst
the summer months may seem like one long irritation for hayfever
sufferers, it is vitally important motorists are aware of the
dangers this could have on road safety. The good news is there
are measures you can actively take to help prevent allergic
reactions, such as multiple sneezes, which can hamper driver
alertness. Cabin filters for example help to create an almost
pollen-free zone by cleaning the air before it enters the passenger
compartment, removing up to 99% of contamination from the air.”
The majority of the vehicles on UK roads have cabin filters fitted
as standard, but owners need to be aware that once a cabin filter is
saturated with contaminants, it becomes less effective at cleaning
the incoming air, enabling pollutants and allergens to enter the
vehicle.
Continued Partridge:- “The only way to create a sneeze-free
zone is to have an effective cabin filter to purify the incoming
air. This will also help avoid a runny nose and eyes, congestion,
headaches and tiredness. It is therefore important that drivers take
their vehicle to their local independent garage at regular intervals
to get their cabin filters checked, and replaced if necessary, to
help keep allergies at bay.” |
