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Sat 8 Sep 2012, 15:28
I was appalled to see Liz Leffman in the Oxford Mail this week pictured outside the gates of Cornbury with her hands over her ears complaining about the noise from Wilderness. My reaction was triggered by 3 points: 1. That she purported to be representing the community when to my knowledge, only 15 formal complaints were lodged from a total ward which I estimate must number well over 3000 people (therefore less than 0.5% of the population). This is not forgeting the fact that Wilderness adhered to all the conditions of it's licence
2. The fact that no mention was made of the huge amount of money generated for the community both directly and indirectly by the event. I believe that as a direct result of monies raised at Wilderness in 2010, Finstock Primary School was able to retain an extra teacher and Charlbury Primary School was able to undertake refurbishments not covered by their budget. As well as this, local businesses and organisations benefited as well - the banners were printed by Senacio on Park St; The Gifford Trust were given money to have a banner on the playing close; over 600 was raised for the community centre appeal due to a tick-box donation facility when ordering tickets on line and ROSY (Respite Care for Oxfordshire's Sick Youngsters) was able to raise both funds and it's profile by being at the Festival
3. As has been evidenced by the myriad of comments both around the town and also on this forum, the vast majority of the constituents (and therefore the people that voted Mrs Leffman into her seat)loved the event and are in total support. It seems to me that a politician's thirst for media coverage and 15 minutes of fame has obviously outweighed the duty of care to represent the views of the community as a whole and to provide a balanced viewpoint. As a voter, I find this unacceptable.
Mrs Leffman, to plagiarise (and corrupt) a quote from the film, The American President "you've got bigger problems than noise; you just lost my vote"
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