Car park quagmire at music festival cost council £8,000
HELPING to sort out a weather-hit music festival cost a North Wales council nearly £8,000.
More than 50 Gwynedd Council staff were called out to work in a makeshift hostel at a leisure centre after the fields serving as a car park for the Festival No 6 event at Portmeirion flooded.
Heavy rain before and during the popular four-day event in early September caused the Afon Glaslyn to break its banks.
Hundreds of cars were marooned, some for several days, in axle-deep mud on the fields near Porthmadog FC’s stadium on Y Traeth and had to be dragged out of the mud by tractors.
After police and council officials declared the towing of vehicles out of the fields unsafe after dark on the Sunday evening the Glaslyn Leisure Centre was used to house festivalgoers who had nowhere to go and no means to get home.
About 160 people were forced to sleep in the leisure centre as the Red Cross was drafted in to help them. The leisure centre was closed to regular users and the public on the Monday.
A Freedom of Information request by our sister paper the Daily Post revealed the cost to Gwynedd Council for its work during the aftermath of the flood was £7,948.18.
But a council official added it is expected the overall cost to Gwynedd Council will ultimately be zero.
“A £7,948.18 insurance claim has been submitted by the festival organisers which covers all costs incurred by Gwynedd Council, including staff and infrastructure.
“This has been accepted by Festival Number 6 and has been passed onto their insurers and awaiting payment,” Holland Hotel, Llanfachraeth: Tues: Poker. Sat: Live music. Sun: Quiz night. T:01407 238181 Black Boy Inn, Caernarfon: Third Thursday of month: Folk night. First Sunday of month: Geraint Lovgreen (in the bar). Also free snacks in the bar in evening T: 01286 673604 Valley Anglesey, Valley: Last Friday of month: free live music. Mon, Bangers & mash. Tues, Pie night. Weds Carvery, Thurs Grill Night, Fri, Fish & chips special. T: 01407 740203. Edinburgh Castle, Holyhead: Fri: Karaoke. Weds & Sun: Carvery. T: 01407 762015. Douglas Arms, Bethesda: Quiz Night second Tues of month, at 7.30pm. Proceeds to the official said.
In all 53 members of Gwynedd Council staff worked at the Glaslyn Centre in Porthmadog on different shifts throughout Sunday night and Monday.
Many festival-goers were angry that their vehicles had been damaged as a result of the flooding.
Festival Number 6 “sincerely and unreservedly apologised” to everyone affected.
During the crisis a festival spokeswoman said the event had used the same fields for parking “without incident for the last four years”.
But Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have said the area chosen for the festival’s park and ride is a “natural flood plain” for the Glaslyn River and is under water “many times a year”.
Festival No 6 founder Gareth Cooper later apologised for the “ordeal” festival-goers had faced and for a perceived lack of personal contact with complainants seeking compensation.
Mr Cooper confirmed the festival remained committed to holding the festival in the region, and thanked local people who came to the aid of stranded festival-goers.
Tickets for this year’s festival which takes place from September 7-10 are already on sale, but no details of where vehicles will be parked have yet been announced. Moel y Ci. T: 01248 600219. Llanberis Social Club: Live entertainment: Sat, Jan 7, Dan Taylor. Sat, Jan 14, Becca Read.T: 01286 872027. Breeze Hill Hotel, Benllech: Thurs’s 9pm: Quiz night for local charities. T: 01248 852308. Liverpool Arms, Menai Bridge: Weds: Quiz 9pm. Sun: Music Quiz 9.30pm. T: 01248 712453. The Owain Glyndwr, Llanddona: Tues 5-8pm, Fish chips & peas £5. Fri 5-8pm, Curry night £5. T: 01248 810710. Tap & Spile, Bangor: Tuesdays, free entry prize quiz 9.30pm. T: 01248 370835. The Bull Inn, Bethesda: Weds 9pm, Jam Session. T: 01248 600438. Anglesey Arms, Caernarfon: Thurs, quiz night, Fri, live music. T: 01286 672158. Pant-yr-Ardd, Tregarth: Tues: Bingo. Thurs: Quiz. Sat: Live Ent. Sun: Disco. Sky TV. T: 01248 600057. The Boatyard Inn, Bangor: French Conversation on Thursdays at 7pm to 9pm, (intermediates and above). For more details please email:jannieu@tiscali.co.uk Anglesey Arms, Menai Bridge: Thurs: Fun quiz 9pm. T: 01248 712305. The North Wales Guitar Circle meet here at 7.45pm on second Tues of each month. For more details please call Jane 01407 831480 or visit northwalesguitarcircle.co.uk