Councillors overturn cuts to Littlehampton Town Show

Original proposals to trim the event’s costs by £5,000 would have seen features scaled back, with a bingo tent axed, a smaller community marquee for the dozens of local organisations taking part and less money spent on the headline act on the mainstage.

However, Labour councillor Mike Northeast, with support from other opposition members and four members of the ruling Conservative group, successfully proposed an amendment to the budget restoring the £5,000 to the event’s budget.

The money will be found either by diverting funds either from a freedom of the town march by armed forces and spending on bandstand concerts, or postponing building of a Queen’s diamond jubilee bandstand until next year.

The town show budget was initially trimmed to divert funds to a special event being planned by the town council to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee, but Mr Northeast said that would be “robbing Peter to pay Paul”, and the town show should be part of the celebrations of both the jubilee and Olympics year.

“The town show was started as a way of bringing the town together and celebrating as a community, helping to restore civic pride and a sense of belonging,” he said. “And as a way for us as the town council to be involved in giving something back to the townspeople and the local voluntary groups.

“For those very reasons this is not an event to rob from in order to put on another event that is not specifically aimed at celebrating Littlehampton and all that’s good here.”

Mr Northeast added he had been “totally gobsmacked” to hear that some councillors had initially been considering not having a town show this year.

Independent councillor Malcolm Belchamber said he had been “dismayed” when he saw the town show was being reduced. “It’s something that has gone from strength to strength,” he said.

Town councillor Joyce Bowyer, leader of the controlling Conservative group and chairman of the community resources committee, said some careful planning by a town council officer had shown it was possible to have a “slightly smaller” town show, with not so many marquees.

The committee, she said, had been confident they would be able to get a group for the mainstage which would not cost as much money as was normally spent, and some community groups were being asked to bring their own gazebos to set up on the Rosemead open space, where the event is held.

Liberal Democrat Dr James Walsh also defended the scaled-down plans, claiming the town council would be getting “more bangs for our buck”.

The amendment restoring the town show funding was carried by eight votes to four.

See this week’s Littlehampton Gazette, out Thursday, February 9, for more details on the budget.