Tall Ships: Best Event in England Tourism Awards?

[Stevef]

After spending £4m of other people money the council want something to show for it.

A promise not to do it again would be a start.

I would welcome the return of the Tall Ships to Hartlepool, but only on the condition the people previously involved with the last event at the council, had nothing to do with the project.

[marky]

Giving this kind of logic we may as well give a postumous award to the White Star line for all that the Titanic did for Belfast and Southampton

[notinshadow]

Hey, they have been throwing birthday parties almost!! for the last few weeks.

[Shepherd]

I hope Hartlepool does win the award, it was a fantastic experience and it cost us plenty and as Stevef say, we should bring it back if we can on the understanding that it is run by people who know what they are doing and the contracts are given to local companies if possible! Because last time the money went out of town!

So we paid for it but we did not reap the benefit we could have done, a missed opportunity!

[christine blakey]

But note as SteveL says, the current team who organised it will be commended, that it what happens with these things.  It is fact.

They will then use the award to get the control of bringing the event back, and we will simply get what can be likened to a Provi Loan to pay the millions again.  They will justify spending so much money in saying it was useful to attract the award status.

The fundamental reason for objecting to the award is that it was badly managed, lacked equality notice and also cost us far more than it should have done.  That is not a tourism title but a further nail in our coffin.

I really feel that the apathy in this town is due to the continued brushing under the carpet or sweeping into the dock.  How can we ever learn if big mistakes are made, and there is no accountability?

[Lord Elpus]

I remember all the way through the planning of the Tall Ships event Steve Allison kept asking questions about the financial planning.  He fore saw the problems; he was called a party pooper and told he was talking the event down by Drummond, Brash and all.

As many have said, the event was a great success; I had a great time in so many ways, however, from a financial point of view it was a disaster for Hartlepool.  There is always risk in such events but Hartlepool's spending was significantly more than what other Local Authority's have spent on the Tall Ships race.  Some people just got carried away and it was not all Officers fault, some politicians should also shoulder the responsibility.

[mk1]

Hartlepool just got a mention on Newsnight.
What did they say ?
Was it
'Hartlepool home of the fantastic Tall Ships event'
or
'Hartlepool where a man in a monkey suit was elected Mayor.

Answers on a postcard please ..........