Bournemouth Air Festival: MP calls funding cut 'shocking'

An MP has described council plans to stop funding Bournemouth Air Festival as "shocking" and "simplistic".

A report to Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) councillors recommends the authority ceases to provide funding or staff for the event after 2024.

Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood said the move would damage the local economy and the town's reputation.

But BCP leader Vikki Slade said it was "only fair" for "those who make so much money from it to contribute".

The authority, led by the Three Towns Alliance, has been consulting businesses on options for the free, four-day event as it attempts to tackle a £44m budget shortfall.

The cabinet is meeting next week to vote on proposals to cut the 2024 event to three days, and funding from £400,000 to £200,000, with the shortfall coming from sponsors.

The report recommends external organisations are invited to "fund the air show in 2025 and beyond" and for there to be "no council funding or direct staffing support for the Air Festival beyond 2024".

Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Conservative MP Mr Ellwood described the report as "shocking".

Speaking to the BBC, he said: "It is a simplistic attitude.

"I believe the council is not minded to support this in the long term and they are quietly happy to see it run into the ground."

Mrs Slade said: "It costs the council a huge sum and we have a budget shortfall of £44m - we cannot fund it."

Philip Broadhead, leader of BCP's Conservative opposition, said: "It's an incredible event - one of the largest free festivals in the country - which brings in millions to the local economy.

"The decision that this year could be its last is a body blow to our tourism industry, and we'll continue to campaign for support for the festival into the future."

Culture councillor Andy Martin said there had been "an escalation in uncontrollable costs in delivering the event" and the proposal was about supporting businesses that depend on it with a "long-term way forward".

The recommendations will go before BCP's cabinet on 22 November.

Next year's event is expected to take place from 29 to 31 August but will not feature the Red Arrows due to the team's overseas commitments.

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