Time to end the T in the Park secrecy

The decision to exclude the public from a council debrief on T in the Park is a strange one. Police met Perth and Kinross councillors in a regular briefing but as soon as questions on the music festival were raised by elected officials, they were shut down.

Councils have every right to exclude the Press from meetings in which they will be discussing commercially sensitive information.

Likewise the police will not want operational matters reaching the public domain if they could impinge on their ability to safely operate.

It would be interesting to know on which of these critera questions surrounding the policing of T in the Park had to be taken behind closed doors.

The music festival continues to be a point for debate and scrutiny, not least since the revelation that it has been in receipt of public money.

What that £150,000 was used for — other than the broad catch-all of “relocation costs”— remains unclear.

Politicians of all hues have been at pains to stress the importance of T in the Park to the Scottish economy but want more transparency over the matter.

Excluding the Press and public from yesterday’s meeting in Perth does nothing but add fuel to the fire of suspicion surrounding the event.

Strathallan will host the festival again next year. It is undeniable the site experienced significant issues in July.

It is the job of the council and police to either mitigate them or call organiser DF Concerts to account.

That must be done in public.