St Oswald's feast cancelled with a month to go as Bardney Group Parish Council withdraw funding

Plans were well underway for the St Oswald’s Feast event in Bardney, and was due to take place on Saturday and Sunday August 5 and 6.

But, on June 27, it was announced that Bardney Group Parish Council would be withdrawing its funding for the event, which made up £2,500 of the £4,000 required.

Tony Castle, one of the organisers, said: "When we started this two years ago, we asked the parish council for help and it’s run very smoothly until now,” he said, “But, then, in Ma,y when the new council was elected, we had a problem.”

Eight bands had been arranged to provide live music across the weekend, as well as a number of food vendors, traders selling locally produced crafts, demonstrations from local groups, a vintage vehicle exhibition, and a fly-past from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

But as the parish council has withdrawn the funding, the committee doesn’t have enough money to hold the Feast, and it has been cancelled.

An extraordinary meeting of Bardney Group Parish Council was held on Monday, July 3, where the parish council explained their decision.

Bardney Group Parish Council declined to comment afterwards.

However, minutes from the meeting note Chairman Coun Ian Fleetwod said that: “in order to spend the public purse, requirements must be satisfied and the process must be minuted, recorded and ratified through council”, and that there is: “no record within the parish office of any previous ‘St Oswald’s Festival planning meetings’ in either electronic or paper format attended by the previous parish council chairman".

Coun Fleetwood stated that he took advice from the Monitoring Officer of West Lindsey District Council on June 26 and explained the situation, and their advice was the parish council need to be satisfied that all the correct procedures and information were in place:

“It was recognised that a lot of effort was behind it and all councillors wanted it to go ahead, but due to issues with the paper trail it is not clear, it is not ratified, and the decisions do not appear in the minutes on the decisions by the previous council, a decision is needed.”

The motion was passed to cancel the event with nine councillors in favour, three against, and one absention.

A scaled-down version of the Feast will still be held, however, as The Old Angel Inn Bardney has offered their facilities to hold the alternative Stoz Fest on Sunday August 6 from 12noon to 7pm, promising a party in the car park with live music and a bbq.

Landlady of the Angel, Emma Wilson, said: “We’re a live music venue and it would have been a shame if the feast was unable to go ahead, and we really wanted to help. The community as a whole really want this to go ahead.”

"We’re so grateful for Emma,” Tony added, “They’ve offered the use of the car park and managed to acquire a trailer so we can at least do something on the Sunday.”

If any live music acts would be interested in playing at St Oswald’s Feast on Sunday, August 6, email [email protected]