FEDERATION Council deputy mayor Shaun Whitechurch and Cr Gail Law created some fireworks of their own in debating plans for New Year’s Eve celebrations in Corowa.
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This year’s events have been moved away from Rowers Park to RSL Park and is being heavily promoted as a family-friendly show with the major fireworks show to take place at 9.30pm followed by a secondary show after midnight.
The plans attracted 14 formal objections with animal welfare, fire risk, noise and congestion in the area being among the complaints with a move back to Rowers Park being raised with event organisers, Corowa Rotary Club.
But the event is staying at RSL Park this year which upset Cr Whitechurch.
“It is a little bit disappointing that Rotary has gone ahead and bought the fireworks to suit the venue and then applied for the application,” he said.
“I’d like to be supporting New Year’s Eve continues.
“But in light of all the objections and I’ve been banging this (drum) for a long time that Rowers Park is the place to have the fireworks.
“We need to get it back to Rowers Park where it attracted 5000 people and was iconic. It is not going to survive the way it is.”
Cr Law said fireworks were an expensive event to run and congratulated Rotary on making the show “cost-effective”.
“It doesn’t cost the ratepayers, it doesn’t cost the people,” she said.
“We put out our buckets, we call for donations.
“The 9.30pm people are lovely because they enjoy it.
“The midnight people are usually well and truly on their way to celebrating the new year in.
“I think some of them might start about (3pm) in the afternoon actually and they are very rude, abusive, abrupt and almost insulting.”
Cr Whitechurch said the numbers at Rowers Park didn’t lie and people were entitled to celebrate events like New Year’s Eve and Australia Day.
“To put something on that was iconic and attracting people to now put on what is little more than a sparkle show at midnight is not going to have an effect,” he said.
“It is disappointing to go from something that was building up to something huge down to something that is meeting a budget due to its decline.”
Cr David Longley said it was unfair to attack Rotary.
“If they haven’t got the money it’s the best they can do,” he said.