A District councillor for Keynsham is accusing the Bath and North Somerset Council (B&NES) cabinet of offering advice that due to the costly outcome is undermining the annual Remembrance Parade in November.
Independent councillor for Keynsham South Alan Hale who has had a meeting with the town clerk and her deputy and Cllr Dave Biddleston, has said that Keynsham Town Council (KTC) are being charged some £4,000 by a private company for the hire of Hostile Vehicle Mitigation barriers to strengthen the road closures.
Chair of Keynsham Town Council, Hal MacFie said: “We have a budget at KTC that covers the costs and we have been through the plans in detail with the staff and are confident that with the portable nature of these barriers, we can keep the main body of participants protected from a vehicle attack. “
However, Cllr Hale said: “I have been told that the parade will be significantly disrupted this year because of the advice KTC received from the Police Counter Terrorism officer. The use of equipment that KTC will hire at a cost of £4,000 will not cover all of the closures normally put in place in previous years.
“While the advice that started with B&NES referral, is not mandatory, KTC are left in the invidious position that if it fails to take their advice and God forbid that something did happen then the Town Clerk and her deputy could be held responsible. Because of the cost, which was sprung on KTC only a couple of months back, the parade is having to muster on High Street rather than Ashton Way and so the front of the parade will not be that far from the parish church where the service is held.
“Similarly on the march to the Memorial Gates the procession is either having to form up within the church grounds or on High Street so again the front of the parade will be halfway to the Gates before it moves off.”
It is believed that neither KTC or local district councillors have been given any indication of suggested threat , though B&NES it seems are quoting the police as being in favour of the use of the barriers to prevent any attack using a vehicle but there seems no suggestion that the police will be giving greater attention to the parade than their limited attention in recent years.
Cllr Hale continued: “This parade has been held, presumably since very shortly after the end of hostilities in World War Two, with no risk or threat ever made to it. The District Council should be supporting the communities marking the Remembrance not referring them to a profit making company via the Terrorism Officer who had not been proactive, bearing in mind this happens every November throughout the country, but only responded to the topic when raised by KTC, following advice from B&NES.
“This has made the occasion an unmitigated and unnecessary expense with no evidence or intelligence to suggest that any danger might be in the pipeline.”
B&NES Council were approached for comment.