The attendance at the fair on Chuch street is probably increasing because of publicity, it is mentioned in the doorstep freebie magazine, out and about, this week.What is needed is somebody to, how does it go, oversee it. It needs somebody to sit down and take a think about this rather than being dragged along with it.Ok. The road is closed, for the moment. The residents are so used to noise they want a noisy fair and to make a profit for their charities from their front doors.Don't know what they are selling or what profit they are accounting for and if it is a regular activity what the Council tax people say about business rates or the Tax man or health people if food is being prepared in uninspected kitchens.Blocking the remaining part of the road for cyclists and walkers or the access ramp to the river is important. Somebody in a wheelchair should be able to travel the road without being embarrassed by having to ask people to excuse them. The road is still a priority to travel along. The fair is secondary to this. I think I read that a resident had suggested that the ramp to the river would have been blocked by a parked car if they hadn't put a tent there instead. This comment throws up the warning that the top of the ramp should be yellow lined to keep access to the river clear at all time apart from unloading or loading boats.Not sure if any of that matters to me personally.What does matter is that, seemingly, there is a want to hold a community event and that people wish to attend, spend their money and to join in together. Amazing, good news! Good news in the middle of all this stuff an' nonsense.Somebody overseeing it and taking a proper community view would check things out such as, Is this the right place to hold the Communities event?I mean, just a very short distance along road is the green opposite the Blue School and paved areas with shops along side,Shops which struggle to make a living to fund the heart of the community. Shops which employ people and pay Tax work to stringent health and safety regulations for trading standards yet have their chance of extra footfall and business taken away from them by the diversion of the front door fair further along.Also. What about the green around by the ice cream shop opposite the town hall. This is sited in the middle of the variety of small shops making up the area, a bus route with lots of real passing trade and even more importantly with equal access for people slowing down with old age, disabilities, and open to a wider mix of people who might want to join in.Church street is not the right place for this community event.
Sarah Felstead ● 3337d