A charity collection won’t take place and yellow parking restriction cones will not be installed along roads leading up to Burnham-On-Sea’s Trinity Close this Christmas – where residents display thousands of festive lights on their homes – after safety issues were raised by a council safety group.
Sedgemoor’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) brings together representatives from Somerset County Council, district councils and emergency services including the Police, to provide advice and guidance to event organisers.
The group says it is not supporting the use of yellow traffic cones in Trinity Close this Christmas unless residents take liability for any accidents caused by their use.
Also, the group says that holding a charity collection will mean the Christmas lights display is categorised as ‘an event’ – which has insurance consequences. So the residents have decided not to hold a charity collection this festive season.
The Trinity Close residents’ decision has been outlined in a letter that has been distributed to home owners in the surrounding area this week.
The letter says: “For the past few years, yellow cones have been used on Trinity Rise, Pizey Avenue and into Mountbatten Close to restrict parking during December.”
“Initially, this was done after consultation with the local Police who lent us yellow no-parking cones, hoping to improve pedestrian safety and access to homes.”
“However, this year the Sedgemoor Safety Advisory Group (SAG) has passed on a statement from a member of the Somerset Highways Department saying that they cannot condone the use of cones, affirming that ‘should an incident occur as a result of your actions (placing the cones), you could be held liable.'”
“Therefore, those of us in Trinity Close will not be putting any yellow cones out this year. It is worth noting, however, at no point has SAG made any other suggestions for improving safety or access to our homes.”
“SAG describes the display of lights on private homes with the provision of a charity collection as ‘an event’. In order to avoid the ramifications that accompany an event, there will be no advertised switch-on, no media involvement at our instigation, no collecting box, and the switching on and off will be individual to each resident.”
“In short, there will be no Trinity Lights display for charity this year. However, the lights will be displayed by those who do them for personal enjoyment.”
A spokesman for Somerset County Council told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We’ve always been pleased to support the residents of Trinity Close with their fantastic Christmas display and we worked with them last year to implement permanent traffic orders to help improve the parking situation.”
“As the display has grown in popularity we have provided advice through the Sedgemoor Safety Advisory Group to ensure they are aware of potential consequences and liabilities. This advice is well intended and we are happy to work with the organisers to support their plans for the future.”
A spokesman for BARB Search & Rescue, which has been one of the charities to have benefited from past displays, added: “This is disappointing news for a small, independent local charity like us where the funds raised really have made a big difference over the past few years. However, we fully respect and understand the decision and thank the residents for their wonderful, much-appreciated support.”
