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York ARTICLES

York to Bring Back Bonfire Night

02nd April 2008

There has been a surge of support for the plans to bring back a big public Bonfire Night celebration to York. Representatives wish to organise an extravaganza that is fitting to the birthplace of Guy Fawkes.

However the City of York has not held any public displays for a considerable amount of time and there will be many problems ahead.

Furthermore the leader of the City of York Council said there were major issues that needed to be address.

He said, “They had relatively successful fireworks displays at Clifford’s Tower but because it was free it became more popular than streets around it could accommodate safely, and for safety reasons it had to be moved away from there.”

The last organised display was held in the late 1990’s with an estimated 40, 000 people attending. This led to grave concerns about the safety of the general public and the lack of stewards to cope with the influx of people. It was noted that it would be very difficult to predicate how many people will turn up to the display.

The councillor goes on to say, “It was clear that if it was going happen again there would be a need for a much more substantial investment in stewarding, barriers and car parking.”

Another obstacle in the way of the Bonfire Night celebrations is the estimated cost of £80,000. The council has stated that they could not justify spending taxpayers’ money on fireworks.

The council’s executive member for leisure and culture said there was also the aspect of environmental issues to consider.

He said, “We’re trying to clean the city and stop pollution and what we would be doing is pumping dioxins into the atmosphere.”

The Millennium celebrations in London pumped a large amount of dioxins in to the atmosphere. The amount pumped in to the atmosphere was equivalent to that of an incinerator burning for 200-years.