‘We apologise’: Council apologizes for long delay to Oswestry fireworks show

Event in Kay Glass Park in Oswestry came under a barrage of criticism on Saturday, with one attendee saying organizers “should be ashamed of themselves” after the 7pm start time came and went.

The delays are due to the free event, which was intended to raise money for local charities with volunteers from Rotary Club of Borderlands highly involved.

Helen Bucknell wrote on the official website Oswestry City Council Facebook page: “We arrived there at 5.45, only a few people had gathered and the orchestra was playing on the stage.

“There were only three food stalls there. The cake stand was sold out by 6.30am and the queue for the other two was over 100 meters long.

“The band continued to play and by 7pm we received a random message that there would be no fireworks unless everyone in the park moved despite the barriers being in place.

“This crowd had gathered well before the 7 p.m. kickoff, so why did it take officials so long to realize that people were in an ‘unsafe zone’?

“We watched as the crowd did not move and senior staff moved the crowd carelessly and grossly ineffectively.

“By 7.40am we had no updates and officials were still walking from the fireworks area to the barriers and no one thought to tell the crowd anything new.

“It was enough for us to have two small children wait for two hours, only to be tired and frustrated by the ridiculous wait… we drove 45 minutes for this and ended up not seeing any fireworks.

“There should have been a blockade of the entire area where it was unsafe to stand. This failure is due to poor management and is not the fault of the crowd. As the old saying goes, ‘You get what you pay for,’ and in this case…absolutely nothing.”

Another critic said: “We left at 7.45 tonight after being there since 6pm. The four year old granddaughter was very fed up! No laser show as advertised.

Another wrote: “With a two and three year old in tow it was ridiculous letting everyone in and then constantly changing where they want you to stand.

“We gave up just before eight, after standing around for an hour trying to entertain the kids.

“We stood behind erected fences, no one sat on the grass and told us otherwise for half an hour – ridiculous.”

Representative

“Thank you for your support and patience while attending this evening’s fireworks display.

“We apologize for the delay in shooting due to security reasons. We are aware that there are a number of issues and we will review them to resolve them.

“Thank you again.”

“Unfair Deeds”

Oswestry councilor Mike Isherwood said he had seen a lot of “unfair things”.

In a social media post, Councilor Isherwood said: “I do not speak on behalf of the Council and it would be inappropriate to comment on aspects of an event that I was not personally involved in organizing, but I have seen many unfair things happen. was said this evening and I would like to respond.

“Firstly, some have compared the fireworks display at Cae Glas Park to the previous incarnation of the event, which used to take place in Brogyntyn and was organized by Triple Nine for many years.

“Some people seem to think that Oswestry Town Council did everything they could to ruin this much-loved annual event, but that is of course not true.

“Several years ago, the Treble-Niners decided to stop running the tournament and the OTC stepped in to help continue it. The Rotary Club has always supplied most of the volunteers and still does. So there is no way to go back to triple nine. They “retired”.

“And it’s impossible to return back to Brogintin.”

“OTC decided to try and hold an alternative event in the park last year as many people were understandably disappointed that we were missing out on a free public screening. That is why there is no more fire: it would destroy the grass in the park.

“There were a lot more people at the event this year and that, in my opinion, was probably a contributing factor to today’s difficulties.

“At a free public event, there is no way to know how many people will show up.”

He added: “Safety is obviously a top priority and main concern for the officers and staff organizing the event and I know how dedicated and hard-working they are.

“They each take their jobs incredibly seriously and go above and beyond their job descriptions to make sure these events happen because we, the council members, on behalf of the residents, ask them to do so.

“Yes, there was a long delay in lighting the fireworks tonight. The reasons need to be understood and learned to act.

“But these kinds of comments are unfair to people who not only don’t deserve it, but deserve applause for what they do for our city.

“I understand people’s frustration, but words have a real impact on people.”