According to a report of Waveney District Council in Suffolk, it is felt that the Christmas illuminations are not politically correct. The report says that Christmas lighting "does not fit well with the council's core values of equality and diversity."
Now, the council is proposing to slash its £10,000 donation by to fund lights in 13 towns and villages by half next year and stop it completely in 2007. A final decision will be taken on Thursday.
However, the language used came in for a lot of flak. Even the Waveney District Council leader Mark Bee admitted that the language used in the report was "unfortunate" and apologised. He added that the proposal was being made purely for "economic reasons." "I am concerned about the wording in the report and I have taken it up with the chief executive this morning and we will be withdrawing that part from the report," he said.
The report, per se, did not please all of the town folk that led to remarks that the council had gone "PC crazy".
"Our whole culture is being affected by the vague possibility that the things we do might be upsetting people from another religion," said Frank Jones, an independent councillor on the authority.
Dudley Clarke, the chairman of Southwold's Chamber of Trade, said: "… over recent months Waveney has been cutting back on so many projects but saving £750 in Southwold - I know it's £10,000 altogether - is not going to make that much difference."
District council which is controlled by Conservatives in East Anglia will review the report this report.
Mr Bee also stated: “We have to decide how best to allocate what money we have available for grants…” He felt that, “It would be wrong to continue using council taxpayers’ money to help fund these displays...”
Posted
on : Thu, 10 Nov 2005 01:35 GMT | Politics News
By : Pippa Fielding
|
