Crunch meeting to decide on ‘Grand Départy’ Inquiry as cost of stilt walkers revealed.

Liberal Democrat calls for an inquiry into the ‘Grand Departy’ music concert are to be heard at crunch scrutiny meeting tomorrow.

grand-departy

Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Lib Dem Spokesperson for Leisure, Culture and Tourism, last week submitted a request for a review into the “planning, promotion and delivery” of City of York Council organised events for the Tour De France, including the £187,000 loss-making ‘Grand Departy’ concert.

A decision on whether to proceed with the review will be taken at tomorrow’s Learning & Culture Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

Since the review request was submitted new concerns have emerged over public safety at the Grand Departy. Minutes from the July meeting of the council’s Safety Advisory Group (which took place just days after the event) have highlighted problems.

These included locked fire exits, blocked emergency exits and no licence to allow people to use covered seating areas. The Group said it would not support a similar event proposed at such late notice.

“Until these budget and safety issues are properly addressed many people will have little faith in the council to successfully run any large-scale cultural event.”

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The meeting comes as the York Council has been forced to reveal more detailed costs of the Grand Departy. Details can be downloaded by clicking here. The papers reveal that the costs of the stage, amplification and lighting alone cost more than total ticket sale income.

The Council have also released details of how over £60,000 was spent on other aspects of the “cultural festival”. Click here to download

. Details of the scrutinty meeting can be found here: .

The Committee is made-up of 3 Labour councillors, 1 Lib Dem, 1 Conservative, 1 Green (Chair) and 1 Independent.

Cllr Cuthbertson, who will make the case for an inquiry at tomorrow’s meeting, commented:
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