THE recent plans to hold a music festival in Victoria Park were passed after a long and in depth consideration by councillors and contributions from many parties.

While it is clear why a number of local stakeholders may be concerned over the potential disruption caused, these events can be significant in supporting both the profile of Warrington and its economy.

The events industry is one of the largest economic developments in recent years, with the booking firm Eventbrite estimating the value as over £42 billion per annum to the economy, employing nearly 570,000 jobs and having 85 million event attendees.

Of course not all of these are music festivals. An estimated 1.3m business events are held every year in the UK, including many networking initiatives.

The events industry is also a great opportunity to showcase the UK and in this case, Warrington to visitors who would not otherwise come into contact with these places.

In fact 35 per cent of the visitor (tourist) economy of the UK is attributed to events. However, professionalism in conducting these is everything and all the planning and organising that contributes to this paramount.

So go on Warrington, open your doors and have a great time, safely.

LAWRENCE Bellamy is deputy provost at the University of Chester’s Padgate campus