NEW YEAR'S EVE FIREWORKS – MOVING FORWARD
What We're Delivering for the Community
The Town Council is committed to supporting Wadebridge with a wide range of activities and events. This year we have provided:
- Funding for community groups via our Grant process
• VE and VJ Day commemoration events
• Christmas lights
• Free use of council land and car parks for Wadebridge Carnival
• Outdoor cinema event
• Children's Christmas party for parish families
• Community pantomime
• Free car parking for late-night shopping events
We know there has been interest in New Year’s Eve Fireworks in Wadebridge, and we want to provide the full context behind our decisions.
🗳️ The Consultation Process
We ran a 4 week public consultation on fireworks use on council land. While we can't visit every household individually, the consultation was open and accessible, and all feedback was carefully considered in our decision making.
⚠️ Why Event Management Is Complex
New Year's Eve fireworks aren't simply about setting off fireworks. They require comprehensive event management including health and safety planning, risk assessments, insurance, stewarding, crowd and traffic management, emergency planning, and coordination with emergency services. Road safety for large numbers of pedestrians needs careful management with adequate marshalling. This carries significant responsibility and cost for the Council.
⚖️ Balancing Competing Priorities
At the time of the consultation, fireworks took place on several occasions throughout the year on council land. Considering the consultation responses received we acknowledged environmental concerns by reducing fireworks events from four to two, while preserving tradition and cultural significance.
We sought to strike a balance between community enjoyment, safety, disruption, environmental concerns, and affordability. We therefore decided to enable Guy Fawkes Night fireworks to continue (delivered by and at the Rugby Club), while stopping fireworks at the Carnival and late-night shopping and ending funding for New Year's Eve fireworks.
💰 The Financial Reality
The New Year's Eve fireworks display was originally intended as a one-off event for the year 2000 but has continued for 25 years. As a small Town Council with limited resources, we must carefully prioritise how we allocate funding across our activities and services.
After 25 years of providing this event, we reviewed this alongside our other commitments and, in particular, the safe management of the event. We approached the Town Team to enquire whether businesses – particularly those trading on New Year's Eve – would be willing to contribute. Unfortunately, and with understanding given the economic climate, no funding was secured.
Future Opportunities
The Council hasn’t ruled out New Year's Eve fireworks entirely. If an external group wishes to fund and fully organise the event, and all health and safety requirements are met, the Council will consider the proposal.
📧 Please contact the Town Clerk at for guidance on the requirements. Requests must be submitted by end of May for consideration at June's Full Council meeting.
💬 We Value Your Input
We value hearing directly from residents and welcome constructive dialogue. Please email the Clerk at 📧 with your thoughts or questions. We read every message, and your input helps inform our decisions.
Facebook discussions on other pages don't reach us, and we'd like to hear from you directly – and provide accurate information that sometimes gets lost on social media.
🙏 Thank you
