The Last Porthcawl Carnival was on Saturday 20th July 2019
Porthcawl Buckaneers Limited is a non-profit organisation that has no paid employees. We have a business arm that raises funds through businesses etc to fund the costs of our events. We organise two events the Porthcawl Carnival and Porthcawl Christmas Swim. There is a charitable arm which raises funds from donation and collections. This money is donated to numerous organisations within the community. This has been one of the main objectives of the Porthcawl Carnival since its inception in 1899. The other objective is to promote Porthcawl and to engage the whole of community in the event. This includes the volunteering of all the services, Police, Fire Service, RNLI, Coastguard and Coastal Watch. The commitment of the services to the route of the parade is 2 hours. Porthcawl Carnival July 2020 Since the last carnival we have held extensive meeting with South Wales Police Major events team and Traffic Management Companies over traffic control. The route of the carnival has always been authorised through Bridgend Council under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847. This permits the control and direction of traffic by the police as the procession is moving along its route. This allows roads behind the procession to be opened without delay and for traffic to be controlled and directed at the forefront shortly prior to the arrival of the procession. This reduces traffic congestion throughout the procession. At the same time the walkers are protected because no other vehicle can enter the procession. It has been police policy not to use this Act, however, it is used for all Royal and State visits, Remembrance Sunday, Veterans Day and military funerals. The objective of the police policy is to focus on their core roles as police officers and the management of traffic to be controlled by a dedicated Traffic Management Company. Traffic Management Companies cannot control and stop traffic in a similar manner to the police because they are not authorised to do so. The Police have adopted their policy and will not assist in the control and direction of traffic and require Porthcawl Buckaneers Limited to arrange for the management of the traffic. We reviewed our route to identify an alternative route; this was not feasible in part to the size and scale of the carnival procession. The route of the carnival and road closures would need to be implemented under Section16a, Road Traffic Act. This in effect does not allow traffic movement along the closed roads. To implement a road closure would involve closing the main route and in addition all the access side roads leading into the main route. For each of these access side roads there would need to be a marshal (either from Porthcawl Buckaneers or from the Traffic Management Company) with bollards and a road closure sign. This is a considerable amount of equipment. We have been advised that the roads would need to be closed by 11am in preparation of the event at 1.30pm.
To affect the start of the carnival, it will be necessary to close the following roads:
1. New Road at the roundabout with Bridgend Road -people residing along New Road, Rhych Avenue and Queens Avenue -signage would indicate access only for residents.
2. Hookland Road at its junction with Newton Nottage Road would have a similar sign- access for residents only.
3. Mackworth Road at its junction with Sand Lane -signposted access for residents only. This would have an adverse effect on the large business community situated at the other end of Mackworth Road for a period of 3 hours.
On the route: 1. Station Hill will be closed access only for residents
2. Eastern Promenade at its junction with the road leading up to the fairground will be closed. This will stop any parking in the main car park of the town from 11a.m.
3. Portway dual carriageway will be closed from Newton Nottage Road roundabout from 11am. This will stop any traffic accessing the main town car parks up until 3pm that day. This will have an adverse effect on the business community of the town centre.
4. The promenade would be closed in two places -outside the Pier Hotel and at its junction with Mary Street - This would stop car parking in other town centre car parks from 11am. As a consequence of a procession that last 90 minutes the centre of Porthcawl will be closed for a minimum of 4 hours on one of the busiest days of the year. We rely on the business community to support the carnival.
Having road closures would adversely affect them and we would be duty bound to identify to them the issues of the road closures. As a consequence they are unlikely to financially support the event. We have examined alternatives, but to no avail, and as a consequence the 2019 Porthcawl Carnival will be the last for Porthcawl for the foreseeable future. Porthcawl Buckaneers would publicly like to thank the business community and the haulage contractors for supporting this event for many years. Without their support the event would not have been a success. Furthermore all the carnival floats and walkers over the years who have made the event a colourful and entertaining procession bringing joy and happiness to all of our tourists and onlookers.
Thank you to the numerous volunteers who have been involved in arranging and supporting the event, it truly has been a whole community spectacle. We have worked tirelessly to financially support the smaller charities and local causes in Porthcawl and the surrounding area. We believe some would not be still in our community without this support. We would encourage these groups to participate and assist in the Christmas Swim. Lastly, we want to congratulate the public of Porthcawl for the hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations which we have encouraged to be used our community for the benefit of the community
To affect the start of the carnival, it will be necessary to close the following roads:
1. New Road at the roundabout with Bridgend Road -people residing along New Road, Rhych Avenue and Queens Avenue -signage would indicate access only for residents.
2. Hookland Road at its junction with Newton Nottage Road would have a similar sign- access for residents only.
3. Mackworth Road at its junction with Sand Lane -signposted access for residents only. This would have an adverse effect on the large business community situated at the other end of Mackworth Road for a period of 3 hours.
On the route: 1. Station Hill will be closed access only for residents
2. Eastern Promenade at its junction with the road leading up to the fairground will be closed. This will stop any parking in the main car park of the town from 11a.m.
3. Portway dual carriageway will be closed from Newton Nottage Road roundabout from 11am. This will stop any traffic accessing the main town car parks up until 3pm that day. This will have an adverse effect on the business community of the town centre.
4. The promenade would be closed in two places -outside the Pier Hotel and at its junction with Mary Street - This would stop car parking in other town centre car parks from 11am. As a consequence of a procession that last 90 minutes the centre of Porthcawl will be closed for a minimum of 4 hours on one of the busiest days of the year. We rely on the business community to support the carnival.
Having road closures would adversely affect them and we would be duty bound to identify to them the issues of the road closures. As a consequence they are unlikely to financially support the event. We have examined alternatives, but to no avail, and as a consequence the 2019 Porthcawl Carnival will be the last for Porthcawl for the foreseeable future. Porthcawl Buckaneers would publicly like to thank the business community and the haulage contractors for supporting this event for many years. Without their support the event would not have been a success. Furthermore all the carnival floats and walkers over the years who have made the event a colourful and entertaining procession bringing joy and happiness to all of our tourists and onlookers.
Thank you to the numerous volunteers who have been involved in arranging and supporting the event, it truly has been a whole community spectacle. We have worked tirelessly to financially support the smaller charities and local causes in Porthcawl and the surrounding area. We believe some would not be still in our community without this support. We would encourage these groups to participate and assist in the Christmas Swim. Lastly, we want to congratulate the public of Porthcawl for the hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations which we have encouraged to be used our community for the benefit of the community
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