Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Alexandra Palace Firework Display Cancelled
This year's firework display at Alexandra Palace in North London has been cancelled due to increasing costs and the harsh economic climate.
The annual display, which normally attracts up to 70,000 spectators, last year cost the Charity which runs 'Ally Pally' £63,000, even with voluntary donations given by members of the public attending the display. Costs in staging the event were set to rise further in 2010 and the Charity's Trustees therefore reluctantly decided they could not justify spending its limited funds on the event. The money saved will instead be spent on urgent repairs to the palace building.
"Faced with even higher stewarding and traffic/crowd control costs for the 2010 event and against a climate of impending public sector cuts, we reluctantly felt we couldn’t risk what might potentially be an even bigger shortfall this year. It was a real struggle to come to this decision, especially as it is a really well supported event with a great atmosphere enjoyed by thousands every year. However, the money we save will be used for urgent repairs to the fabric of the building – something which must take priority in today’s economic climate," said Cllr Pat Egan, Chair of the Alexandra Park & Palace Board of Trustees.
Alexandra Palace is hoping to find alternative sources of funding so that it can bring back a fireworks display in 2011.
The annual display, which normally attracts up to 70,000 spectators, last year cost the Charity which runs 'Ally Pally' £63,000, even with voluntary donations given by members of the public attending the display. Costs in staging the event were set to rise further in 2010 and the Charity's Trustees therefore reluctantly decided they could not justify spending its limited funds on the event. The money saved will instead be spent on urgent repairs to the palace building.
"Faced with even higher stewarding and traffic/crowd control costs for the 2010 event and against a climate of impending public sector cuts, we reluctantly felt we couldn’t risk what might potentially be an even bigger shortfall this year. It was a real struggle to come to this decision, especially as it is a really well supported event with a great atmosphere enjoyed by thousands every year. However, the money we save will be used for urgent repairs to the fabric of the building – something which must take priority in today’s economic climate," said Cllr Pat Egan, Chair of the Alexandra Park & Palace Board of Trustees.
Alexandra Palace is hoping to find alternative sources of funding so that it can bring back a fireworks display in 2011.
Tags for Forum Posts: alexandra park, fireworks, parks
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by 36wcv4zkdyzkc on
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Was so disappointed by this. Having just moved into the ladder with a cracking view of Ally Pally from our roof I was looking forward to it!
Fingers crossed for 2011...
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Permalink Reply by Gregg H on
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Its a shame that this was cancelled but I think there's a bigger issue here.
Clive, I think your commentary on what is going on with the Ally Pally charity is enlightening... your point that the charity is "our" charity is an important one and the way that the relationship between Haringey council and the charity is run has shocked me... a snippet from your post on the link...
"Every north Londoner reading this is, in law, a beneficiary of the Alexandra Palace Charitable Trust (NB: not necessarily a resident of Haringey Borough).
Haringey Council-Trustee has run our Charity – as a semi-autonomous municipal department – since 1980. In truth, our Trust has not been in a financial position to host the fireworks for some years. Any cost overruns have been and would be added to the overall deficit held by the council."
Is this not financially illegal for a trustee to do this to a charitable trust, to run up debt year on year? I am not a lawyer so am not insinuating it is... it just shocks me that the council would heap debt onto a facility that is "in trust" for the residents of North London.
In a period where David Cameron is encouraging a Big Society, people taking over assets and looking to involve people in local life, would it not be timely to push Haringey for more accountability, transparency and inclusion of local people?
I'd engage...
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Gregg, the Borough thinks of *our* charitable trust as a department of the council and would rather that you thought of it that way as well. Trouble is, that isn't what the law understands a Charitable Trust to be. It therefore came as a rude shock when, on 5 October 2007, the High Court quashed Haringey's attempt to sell our heritage to a former slum landlord.
Much of the so-called "debt" is bogus, but the figure quoted by Haringey Council is now a little more than £40 million. Haringey Council claims that our Charity owes this sum to the Council. According to the last time I looked at the Act of Parliament, the Trustee is ... The London Borough of Haringey.
For most of past three decades there have been more or less continuous Breaches of Trust, but because its Haringey Council, nothing happens. Scrutiny and Regulation of the Trust Board falls between two stools, with the Charity Commission not wishing to involve itself (for reasons best known to themselves) and on the other hand, the council offers a blanket indemnity against liabilities to the councillors serving on the Trust Board.
This is not a satisfactory state of affairs. The answer in the long run, to the chronically bad governance, is an independent trust.
I could bang on about this for the rest of the day, but it does try Hugh's patience. I recommend anyone interested in reading the background to see:
(a) the Save Ally Pally website
(b) my blog (more polemical!)
(c) the Save Ally Pally Facebook Group (9,500 members)
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