Council to take control of Oswestry Food Festival
Oswestry's food festival is set to move under the control of the town council which wants to keep it going for many years.
Organisers of the Oswestry Food Festival, Yossi Gliksman and John Waine, have run the event for the past 12 years.
However in a letter to the town council, the pair have said they believe the best option is now for the council to run the festival in future years.
The letter, which went before councillors at a meeting on Monday, stated: "We believe that the best place for the festival going forward is in the hands of Oswestry Town Council to add to their roster of excellent civic events that do so much to make the town a better place."
The pair will no longer take responsibility for the festival, and are willing to transfer existing assets over to the authority.
Important
County councillor Paul Milner said it was important the council continued the event, because of the impact it has on businesses.
He said: "We do most of the work already around the festival, and it attracts a lot of people to Oswestry and brings a lot of footfall with it.
"We need to see if we can take this on and keep it going for many, many years."
Fellow county councillor Vince Hunt said the authority almost took it on a few years ago, and he backed a move to take it on this time.
He added: "I felt last year it was not quite as big, so this year we need to make sure it is back to how it was, and make sure we get it right."
Chair of the finance and purposes committee Chris Schofield said the event costs around £6,500 to run, and said a letter of thanks needs to be sent to the previous organisers.
Councillors also said discussions with Oswestry BID should take place, with clerk David Preston stating traders have already expressed interest in attending the 2019 event.
It was agreed a number of councillors would sit on a working group to look into the future of the festival.
