Ferret was shocked, when looking through the recently released November 2021 accounts for Independent Hemsworth Town Council to find two entries for additional money spent on the Vengaboys concert.
A further £7,120.26 of YOUR precept money, contemptuously spent.
This is the music festival which Councillors agreed to review in February 2022, much to the displeasure of the Vengaboys number one fan Mr Jim Kenyon, with a view to either cancelling the whole event or scaling it back due to extremely poor ticket sales.
Ferret can confirm, that despite spending even more of your Precept money on advertising the concert on Facebook and also via a national ticketing website only 295 tickets have been sold.
The “national advertising campaign” has only resulted in 67 extra tickets being sold, which is included in the 295.
For an event which needed a breakeven point of ticket sales of at least 4000, Ferret can see only one financially viable option…
It is diabolical that this concert is going ahead. No one wants it.
Hardly any tickets have been sold.
Give everyone their money back, cancel all the ‘support’ acts as no one wants to see those either.
It’s just ridiculous that it is happening!!!
Spend spend spend, agree a review date, but in the meantime, spend spend spend, time the idiotic Kenyon was shown the door
Stage connections appears to be lighting and event production costs and Apple agency is digital illustration.
Is the “review date” tonight at the full Town council meeting?
https://www.hemsworthcouncil.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Town-Council-Meeting-3-February-2022.pdf
think they said 28th feb for review on venga trash ,,but you would have thought they wouldnt have paid more money out with it being under review .
The agreed date for review for concerts was the 28th Feb 2022 see HTC town council minutes dated 14th October 2021
Recently released Decembers budget now includes 2 more entertainment agencys! This includes a further £2100 spent on the festival! HTC are continuing to spend a hell of a lot of money on what is looking like an almighty floundering flop! More money spent on a large advertising poster too on the side of community centre! Jimmy will say its a “corporate decision” ! Which means its nothing to do with the likes of me and you so keep your precept paying parishioners nose out of it….BOOM..BOOM .BOOM!!
Donald, I noticed yet more festival spend too!
How much more will be recorded in January and February before the review on 28 February?
We don’t know as these are decisions taken outside of meetings, so not recorded anywhere until the finances are eventually published a couple (maybe more) of months after the spending spree.
This is so far removed from “transparent” governance.
I’m sure there must be something which limits our Councillors to only committing funds after voting at a properly convened meeting, unless it’s in the ordinary course of business as usual spend, such as electricity bills.
The 21-22 budget provision for the Festival is £10,000 so I guess they will spend as much as possible, within that limit!
Then we are into the 22-23 budget provision – which hasn’t yet been published.
I’d like to see the income for this Festival, but I think I’ll have to wait until the Year End Accounts in July 22!