An organised display is just common sense

As bonfire night rapidly approaches on Saturday, I am sure many of us will recall fond memories of the Scarborough Lion’s Club annual bonfire and fireworks display which was held on the Burniston Road car park, until several years ago, when it moved to the Weaponness Valley coach park in preparation for the new waterpark construction.

As we all know the Alpamare waterpark and family restaurant are now complete and the Weapon ness coach park has new buildings and sports village under construction meaning sourcing a venue for fireworks and a bonfire by the lion’s club seems an impossible task now.

When I was a councillor representing North Bay Ward I often had complaints from residents of properties near the new waterpark of people trespassing in gardens avoiding paying the £2.50 adult and free child admission.

Subsequently in the following three or so years, I endured people parking dangerously along Oliver’s Mount Road, trespassing into the gateway of the Yorkshire Water reservoir and letting off large boxes of fireworks and tying sparklers and rockets to my donkey pasture perimeter wiring, frightening my donkeys, causing them to stampede across the field many times to some people’s amusement.

I have had to sit for several hours in my car, in the cold, to try to deter idiotic families who seemed totally unaware, or giving consideration, that donkeys were grazing in the fields they were letting off fireworks into.

The obvious solution for myself and other donkey concession owners who have donkey stables nearby is to move them to another field for that evening, but as the whole town celebrates, nowhere has grazing available isolated from this annual celebration, as I am sure petrified cat and dog owners know, and simply people should use more common sense.

Last bonfire night I discovered many remnants of fireworks and sparklers had been fired onto my donkey field from Oliver’s Mount Road towards Queen Margaret’s Road.

What would possess people to venture up Oliver’s Mount to let off fireworks near donkeys, horses and grazing cattle when a free venue on our North and South Bay beaches, which is becoming highly popular, remains to be seen.

This, sadly, has only become a pattern since the lions moved to the coach park and I did not consider would occur last year, when it was cancelled due to lack of venue.

Please, in summary, may I request that members of the public use some common sense and consider going to organised displays that have full public liability insurance cover. Thank you. Guy Smith Donkey Stables Oliver’s Mount Road Scarborough