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Assembly rooms project kills Christmas fair?
(September 24, 2011)VFW understands that the annual Christmas lights switch on will no longer be accompanied by a Christmas fair before the event.
No doubt one of the considerations has been the requirement to save money in the light of the huge financial drain imposed on the town council in funding the Assembly Rooms and the associated radio station project.
Last year's event was staged at the height of the bitter cold that marked the onset of winter and was lacklustre to say the least.
But with the current crowd in charge would you expect anything better? They are hardly dynamic.
''I'm saddened by this news however as I did try to support this event though I was never called into help in any way - though I would have been perfectly happy to
lend a hand,'' said Steve Dancey. (pictured)
''I'm also conscious of how our young experiences shapes our lives and our view of things later on in life
''One of my earliest happy memories in the early 1960s was attending and enjoying the fairs that used to come to the Market Place in those days.
''Perhaps that is why I'm so passionate about turning the tide of decline in the town centre that has been gathering momentum for several years and heightened by Wiltshire Council's nitwits who banned on street parking, widened the pavements and then started charging crazy sums for parking.
"Roll on 2013 when we will at last start to achieve something but at least I hope in the meantime, the council makes an effort to instal Father Christmas's grotto on the day of the switch on, so that there is at least something for children to enjoy and not just over-loud rock music."
No doubt one of the considerations has been the requirement to save money in the light of the huge financial drain imposed on the town council in funding the Assembly Rooms and the associated radio station project.
Last year's event was staged at the height of the bitter cold that marked the onset of winter and was lacklustre to say the least.
But with the current crowd in charge would you expect anything better? They are hardly dynamic.
''I'm saddened by this news however as I did try to support this event though I was never called into help in any way - though I would have been perfectly happy to
lend a hand,'' said Steve Dancey. (pictured)''I'm also conscious of how our young experiences shapes our lives and our view of things later on in life
''One of my earliest happy memories in the early 1960s was attending and enjoying the fairs that used to come to the Market Place in those days.
''Perhaps that is why I'm so passionate about turning the tide of decline in the town centre that has been gathering momentum for several years and heightened by Wiltshire Council's nitwits who banned on street parking, widened the pavements and then started charging crazy sums for parking.
"Roll on 2013 when we will at last start to achieve something but at least I hope in the meantime, the council makes an effort to instal Father Christmas's grotto on the day of the switch on, so that there is at least something for children to enjoy and not just over-loud rock music."