Ducketts Common: The circus has come and gone

Cllr  Clive Carter has now had a response to his member's enquiry, which I posted about a couple of days ago. The questions and answers are as follows:

What monies did the Council receive for permitting the circus to occupy the Common?

The Council has a number of set fees and charges, for all events that take place in its parks. These are agreed by Cabinet at the beginning of each year, as part of the Council’s overall budget setting process.

Although I cannot confirm the exact figure that the Circus has been charged for this event, as this information is commercially sensitive, I can confirm that the Circus was charged under the ‘funfairs & circus’ category of these fees.

The fees and charges are published on EventApp, the online events booking portal which can be found here – www.eventapp.org/haringey

Is any additional sum payable to reinstate and if so how much?

All event organisers pay a refundable grounds deposit fee before moving on to site. The deposit amount varies depending on the type and size of event taking place. For an event of this size the deposit is £2,060.

The grounds deposit fee is returned to the organiser once they have moved off site and only if no damage has been incurred. Regrettably on this occasion, temporary damage has been caused to the grass.

The standard event hire terms and conditions, which all event organisers have to agree to before park hire approval is given, state very clearly that if damage is caused, the hirer will compensate the Council in full for any such damage.

We are currently waiting for the total cost of grass reinstatement works, but if this totals more than the current deposit held, the hirer will pay all costs.

What is the estimated cost to the Council of the reinstatement?

All reinstatement works will be paid for by the hirer, so there will be no cost incurred to the Council.

When the reinstatement will be done?

The organiser has been allowed to carry out some remedial works to the site, until our Operatives can get onto the site with their tractor to carry out the full grass restoration works.

Unfortunately, the recent wet weather has caused a delay to restoration works. If the current weather forecast is to be believed, we hope that with a couple of dry days, this will allow the ground to dry enough for us to get the tractor onto the site to start the works early next week.

How much on addition is to be allocated to the Common out of the monies received from the operators of the circus beyond the sums budgeted for its maintenance for the current municipal year?

All money made from the circus will be reinvested back into the Common.

How much of those monies is to be allocated to other parks beyond the sums budgets for their maintenance for the current municipal year?

None.

These answers, of course, raise at least two questions:

Firstly, why is the income earned from these events to be withheld from the public because of commercial sensitivity. If the public knew this, there would be more informed debate about the use that the money could be put to, as well as whether the event should be held at all.

Secondly, whether the expected income from an event is factored into the budget at the beginning of the year, or whether the money earned truly is an extra, benefitting the Common. The same considerations apply, of course, to bigger events such as those at Finsbury Park.

These are matters which we would pursue after the election, assuming of course that we are elected.

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