It has been revealed that Swindon Borough Council plan on spending a Government Grant which is meant for maintaining and saving public services and helping local businesses which have been hit by the credit crunch will be used to pay off the bill left by Radio One’s Big Weekend.
In papers that were prepared for the Council Cabinet meeting on the 9th September, the council recommends that last years £428,000 Local Authority Business Growth Incentives Grant and next years £240,000 should be used to pay off a £498,000 bill left by the Radio One Big Weekend.
Now, I am not some spoil sport, but at the end of the day, that money should be put to better use. If the council actually took care of their finances, and worked out whether having that event in Swindon was financially viable, then they wouldn’t have to spend this money on the bill.
I can think of some many different things that this money could be better spent on. Like keeping open Library branches that face closer in Swindon, saving the Groundwell Park and Ride which was key to our economy in Swindon, getting young people back in to work, it could have been spent on cleaning up the town centre, which is looking more like a ghost town everyday and a hundred and one other projects that would of benefited Swindon.
The Council should of made sure that they could afford this event before they went ahead with it. I am sure that a few businesses did benefit from this, especially those in West Swindon, where the event was held, but if they invested it properly then the whole of Swindon could of benefited.
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