Auckland Council says safety is top priority as fireworks displays fizzle out

Friday, 10 November 2017

Auckland public fireworks displays have been declining - and one advocate says Auckland Council restrictions are to blame.

Public Guy Fawkes displays are fizzling out in Auckland because of 'daunting' council bureaucracy, a fireworks advocate says.

However, Auckland Council insists safety is its top priority as several popular fireworks spectacles failed to go ahead this year.

Chris Lynch said Auckland Council advocating but not helping fund public Guy Fawkes firework displays was contradictory.

Mourning the loss of the long-running display at the Papakura Lions, spokesman Chris Lynch said he had difficulty navigating the council's paperwork.

Lynch described its forms as 'daunting' and that most people would give up applying to host a public fireworks display before they even started.

Chris Lynch says the council's forms and paperwork are 'daunting'.

**READ MORE:

* Red tape killing fireworks displays?

“Firework displays are not cheap, and value for ratepayers’ money is always a concern,' Auckland Council events manager David Burt said.

* Papakura display snuffed out

* Guy Fawkes axed for Matariki fireworks**

Chris Lynch said Papakura Guy Fawkes display bystanders told him they preferred bringing their children to an organised event rather than setting off their own fireworks. (FILE)

Lynch said the Lions, like other public display organisers, are forced to spend thousands on council-required safety plans such as crowd and traffic control, security, amenities and fencing.

In September, Papakura's new local board announced it wouldn't contribute the $27,000 required to subsidise the annual event, which was ticketed at $5 per person and attracted up to 5000 community members.

However, Auckland Council events manager David Burt said 'public safety is always our number one priority and we need to ensure that all associated risks are appropriately mitigated.'

Burt said the costs of hosting a public fireworks display were for 'core requirements for the safety and comfort of those attending events, as well as that of members of public in the vicinity.'

However, Lynch believes the council's requirements are prohibitive and contradictory:

'On one hand council want people to stop using private fireworks and attend fireworks displays — but on the other hand they're making it difficult for people to put public displays on.'

Papakura's long-running 'good-value-for-money' display had brought its dispersed population together 'absolutely' helping foster sense of community, he said.

Lynch has long been involved with fireworks displays and says that bystanders have often told him they preferred bringing their children to an organised display rather than setting off their own fireworks.

'Firework displays are not cheap, and value for ratepayers' money is always a concern,' Burt responded.

'This is also why partnerships with corporate sponsors are often required to make such events a financial reality.'

Deciding whether council would provide future 'large scale' fireworks funding was up to the Governing Body, he said.

Just days before Guy Fawkes, another display, at central Auckland's Western Springs Speedway, was cancelled by promoter Glen Mosen over perceived difficulties negotiating firework height limits with council.

On November 2 Regional Facilities Auckland said it had tried to accommodate Mosen's Pyro Display height extension request after a five-metre extension above Western Springs's usual 25-metre limit was granted.

Yet Mosen pulled the plug on the popular show.

He said the contracted fireworks provider felt unable to meet the expectation of a fireworks 'extravaganza' within the restrictions that were imposed.

Later that week a veteran fireworks provider, who did not wished to be named over fears that the council would punish his business, said regulations are 'just too onerous to provide a good fireworks display'.