The 2014 Warwick Rocks Film and Food Festival had been scheduled to take place in late August 2014. However last week it was brought to Warwick District Council’s attention that due to sponsorship issues, the 2014 event could be in jeopardy.

Recognising the economic and cultural importance of the event to the town, WDC Councillors unanimously agreed a one-off grant of £3k, to help support the event. 

However, this award was conditional upon the organisers being able to provide WDC with the necessary documents by the deadline of 12 noon on Monday 4 August 2014. The documents are those required by all event organisers wishing to run events on sites covered by a Council license and in accordance with guidelines as set out by the Health & Safety Executive. These documents include risk assessments, insurance documents and crucially an event plan which would demonstrate to the Council, Police and highway authority that the event would be run in a safe manner with appropriate traffic management arrangements and other safety considerations in place.

Unfortunately, despite WDC extending the deadline again, and making a further offer to meet with the Warwick Rocks organisers and work through any remaining areas of concern, Warwick Rocks have notified us on 4 August, that they have decided that the financial risk to their organisation of pursuing the event without the necessary agreement from the Council is too great and therefore have reluctantly decided to cancel the event.

The Smith Street Food Festival on Saturday 23 Aug, 2014 has also been cancelled for the same reasons.

Cllr Sue Gallagher, Portfolio Holder for Culture, comments:“We are obviously disappointed that these events are not now taking place, but the Council has a duty to ensure that all events open to members of the public are managed in a safe way and in line with health and safety guidelines. Our events team work with a wide range of community groups throughout the year, supporting over 100 events ranging from small community events to large national events. Therefore it is disappointing to hear that Warwick Rocks have taken this decision after a significant amount of support having been offered for this event.“

For clarification the documents requested by Warwick District Council to cover these events are the same documents requested for previous events run by Warwick Rocks. Previous events have been able to supply site plans, traffic management plans and insurance details which have been suitable. It is disappointing these have not been forthcoming on this occasion within the time required.

Warwick Rocks were unable to submit insurance, traffic and site plans; some docs submitted were very light on detail; plans were not sufficiently well developed to process the licence, despite a deadline extension. Site & Traffic management plans and  adequate insurance cover are critical to ensuring an event is run safely.

For further information, please contact the Media Room, Warwick District Council 01926 456069