| The city council’s licensing committee today granted public entertainment licences to Charles Horne for carnivals at Riverside between April 24 and May 5 and from September 25 to October 3.
A written objection to the applications had been submitted by Mat Craigon, who lives in Magdalen Yard Road.
“The Riverside carnival has a significant impact on the residents of Magdalen Yard Road,” he said. “Not only does it increase the noise, vandalism, graffiti, litter and disturbance in the normally quiet area of Magdalen Green, it also leads to a flood of under-age drinkers.”
Mr Craigon said that, while the carnival was on last April, his car and three others were badly damaged by youths running over the bonnets and roofs of the vehicles.
“The police were contacted and also agreed with my opinion that this is a direct result of the carnival,” he said.
Another incident in September resulted in several cars having wing mirrors kicked off.
Councillor Rod Wallace, chairing the committee, asked a police representative whether there were records of incidents at the carnival.
He was told that incidents in the area had been recorded while the carnival was on but there was no evidence of a direct causal link.
Mr Horne told the committee he did not accept that all the allegations made were attributable to the carnival.
However, he was willing to extend the security patrols, which previously had stopped at 9.30 pm, for another hour until people had left the area.
With that assurance, Mr Wallace moved approval of both applications and the committee agreed unanimously. |
