A public meeting will be held in Appleby next week giving residents a chance to air their views on this year’s horse fair.
The Thursday meeting will be held in Appleby Public Hall from 7pm, speakers will include chairman of the multi-agency strategic co-ordinating group (MASCG) Les Clark and Cumbria police Superintendent Matthew Kennerley who was in charge of the police’s gold command response to the fair.
The meeting was flagged up at the monthly meeting of Appleby Town Council.
Mayor Gareth Hayes requested councillors hold an extra meeting in order to formalise a unified view of the council’s responsibilities for the fair in response to local “noise” about this year’s event.
He said he recognised there had been some “unsavoury events” in the town which were unacceptable and said he wanted the council to work together for a “safe, secure and friendly town”.
District councillor Karen Greenwood, who represents Appleby as a member of the MASCG, was at the meeting and said she thought it would be an excellent idea to clarify for residents the powers MASCG do and do not have and the role of democratically elected representatives from the community on the group.
“I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding and misleading comments which are not helpful and just frighten people,” she added.
Also at the meeting it was said members of the public will be invited to be involved in another aspect of Appleby life — the ongoing project to renovate the town’s Moot Hall.
