According to Tameside Council’s Deputy Executive Leader,
Cllr John Taylor, (Santa's naughty elf) who, the newspapers tell us, is responsible for
markets, has, this week, been waxing lyrical about the success of Ashton’s
first Christmas Market., (well, when I say John Taylor’s been waxing lyrical, I
mean the person who writes the Press Releases on his behalf)
Anyway, apparently he was reported as saying, “Let’s make
this spectacular Tameside event a success for now and for years to come!”
Now don’t get me wrong, I too would like to wish Ashton’s retailers
every success; it’s just what the town needs, but looking closer at the councillor’s
statement, it just depends on how one measures success!
When one visits the Christmas Market, there is no doubt that
many hours of hard work have gone in to make it the spectacle that is conjured
up by ‘a traditional Christmas Market'. However, as usual whenever Tameside councillors attempt anything vaguely commercial, they fail!
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| The popular Christmas Market, 3.30 Wednesday |
The council put up
£69,500 (Sixty Nine Thousand, Five Hundred Pounds) to buy the materials to build 30 log cabins.
They then charged those
retailers who booked them, £200.00. (Two Hundred Pounds) for two weeks rental.
That brought in £6000 (Six Thousand Pounds)
Leaving a loss to the council of
£63.500 (Sixty Three Thousand, Five Hundred Pounds!)
On top of this massive loss, there is the fee to the events company to run
it; the Artists fee's and the on-going annual costs of dismantling, maintaining and storing the cabins.
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| The same market 5.30 Friday |
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| Don't worry another tram-load will arrive soon! |
Looking to the future, if the council intend to run this Christmas Market in the same financial way, they will not break even for another 11 years!
To throw an initial £69,500 at building chalets and an additional
unknown amount hiring a PR company, who producing a web site that when launched was so full of mistakes it looked like a child of 6 had put it together, was shear
folly and is typical of a council who, despite an under-spend of several millions, still continue to waste taxpayers money whilst claiming poverty, increasing taxes, skimping on repairs and initiating draconian cuts to Libraries and elderly
care centres!
Next week, when the local papers resume publication, I'll confidently predict that John Taylor, the Poster-Boy for Tameside Markets, will tell us (through his interpreter) that the council's foray into Christmas Marketing, was a total success, with 'thousands' of visitors!
However, you must take that with a huge pinch of salt, because as there was nobody actually counting visitors to the market, so any quoting of figures can only be pure optimistic guesswork! And, as the pictures clearly show, there were several times/days when the market was open, that prove it was almost deserted!
Another sorry aspect of this debacle lays with the councillors inability to admit failure. Therefore to save their embarrassment, the losses from this Christmas Market millstone, will now be hung around the taxpayers neck for years to come!
It's high time these money wasters either signed up to a crash course on understanding commercialism or were removed from office!
However, you must take that with a huge pinch of salt, because as there was nobody actually counting visitors to the market, so any quoting of figures can only be pure optimistic guesswork! And, as the pictures clearly show, there were several times/days when the market was open, that prove it was almost deserted!
Another sorry aspect of this debacle lays with the councillors inability to admit failure. Therefore to save their embarrassment, the losses from this Christmas Market millstone, will now be hung around the taxpayers neck for years to come!
It's high time these money wasters either signed up to a crash course on understanding commercialism or were removed from office!
When you get amateurs running what is in effect a business you will always get amateur results and unfortunately financial losses.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much again for a another great article it's been along time coming.
ReplyDeleteI promote your blog at every opportunity.
Merry Christmas, faith, justice.
He wants to know
ReplyDeleteJohn Taylor @JohnWagTaylor 5h
Will Jesus save us
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You can tell just how popular it is can't you?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5npGsUgU3U
This is at rush hour in Ashton
I have signed letters from this man that show beyond any doubt that this person is a malicious individual.
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of a story told to me by an ex-TMBC employee. The council in anticipation of power cuts bought several hundred battery powered desk lamps so the staff could continue to work. The threatened power cuts did not occur so the lamps were packed away in storage.
ReplyDeleteSome time later they were inspected, condemned and binned. They had been stored with the batteries still inside them and these leaked and corroded the lamps.
This man's signed letters to me are solid evidence of contempt for the due process of the law.
ReplyDeleteThe letters are so malicious in their nature, and certainly show the lengths that this man is prepared to operate outside the rules of conduct.
There's no decency in this man at all, he just deals in maliciousness.
If these 'letters' to you are so malicious, then you should take them to the proper authorities' like the Local Government Ombudsman.
DeleteDid that already no positive outcome. I will send them to you give me your view on them.
ReplyDelete