PEOPLE living in The Butts are urging Alton Town Council to take a proprietorial interest when the fair comes to town. The green was churned up by the fairground vehicles and equipment. And they feel that, as landowner, the council should monitor the use of The Butts more closely. A meeting at The Butts last Tuesday, led by town clerk Steve Parkinson, revealed that residents were not against Walls Funfair using the green, but they did feel the need for some improved communication. They were most concerned over the damage caused to the ground and the trees by heavy vehicles. The May fair had left the green rutted and the areas used as access and egress points broken down, with debris filling nearby drains, resulting in localised flooding. They believed there was a problem too over vehicles parking too close to trees, compacting roots and damaging lower branches – a particular threat to any newly planted trees. The call was for Walls to provide more substantial tracking to assist with movement of vehicles on and off the ground, and for caravans and lorries not to park so close to the canopy of trees. At the meeting residents said that if they had been forewarned of the arrival of the fair they would have moved any vehicles parked in the road, which would have made it easier for the fairground lorries to get onto The Butts. They are aware that it is tight for vehicles to gain access from the no-through road side of The Butts. Because of this, and because one of the first caravans onto the site was parked across the paved access point, the articulated fairground trucks were forced to access elsewhere. It was felt that, not only should ATC officers have been there monitoring the situation but that Walls should be instructed to use definite access/egress points only and that these should be strengthened with concrete undermeshing. There were grumbles too over the departure. Because the weather had been so bad, residents complained of fairground operators working through the night to dismantle the rides, using air drills to take out the bolts. One resident was blocked in all day when an articulated lorry jack-knifed, and others complained of being unable to access their own drives during the arrival and departure of fairground vehicles. There were concerns too over noisy generators, which expelled fumes, being parked close to residential properties, forcing residents to spend the week with their windows firmly shut. Run under a longstanding charter which saw a move from the High Street to The Butts in 1881, according to Mr Parkinson, John and Bernice Wall are the fifth generation of the Wall family to bring pleasure fairs to Alton – a service they have been successfully providing since the early 1900s. Mr Parkinson felt the town council and the town had a good relationship with the Wall family. The rent paid by Walls more than covered the maintenance of The Butts and they paid extra for any damage incurred. "There is no question that if the fair didn't use The Butts we would have to reduce the overall maintenance," he said. But he appreciated the frank discussion with the residents and has taken on board the positive comments made. Bernice Wall said that the family had great respect for the venue – The Butts being one of the few places the fair comes to that is actually within the confines of a town. But, she explained, this year had been dogged by extreme wet weather bringing its own access and egress problems, a situation exacerbated by the lack of consideration shown by some local residents who had parked in the road, causing extreme hardship to the showmen trying to move onto and off The Butts. The fair, she said, needed just three hours in which to move on or off the green, during which time a clear passage would be appreciated. Mrs Wall said: "We are very restricted to where we can set up when The Butts is wet and we do our very best to minimise any damage by entering from various points. "We are professional operators and work with the town council to follow the most effective way to cause least damage in the wet weather. "The funfair closes at 10pm each evening, and one small domestic generator on the house side runs to supply power for the caravans after that until around 11.30pm." Mrs Wall added that this was a charter fair, run for the benefit of the entire community, that visited just twice a year for three days at a time on dates governed by the charter. Mrs Wall said that residents were made aware of fair visits when moving into the adjacent houses. "Some of these residents have seen our children grow up and are aware of the extra hard work we put in when the weather is bad and offer their support and friendship. "Thank you to these people for recognising we are doing our job without prejudice and that, unfortunately, we are not in control of weather conditions."
