Mach 1 Air Show at Punchestown 2006

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi 202
I can't disagree with you, certainly. I think they dropped the ball on this one.More's the pity.The country could use one big, central air show per year.Hopefully, next year will be better. Still, plenty of small fly-ins, with non-lethal aircraft attending,going on around the country, to be attended.
regards
GttC

[Buran]

What i heard about this is:

Another reason that Kildare have this requirement and Dublin and Galway dont (or choose not to enforce it) is that Kildare has lots of horses. Very expensive horses. And horses get spooked. Low flying fast jet aircraft would be considered one of the many items that can spook a horse. A spooked horse tends to bolt. And might bolt towards a ditch, and might even attempt to jump the ditch. And might overestimate its own jumping ability in the heat of the panic and land in the ditch breaking its legs. Thus causing the horse to be put down. Thus causing somebody's large investment not to be realised. Thus causing some powerful people to be pissed at kildare co co.
Therefore kildare co co, take this kinda thing seriously.
The 28 days notice or whatever it was, is there to give everybody a chance to put in place their own mitigation. I guess things like bringing the horses indoors, running around the fields with models of planes going neeaaarrrroooomm so they get used to it, etc.

[davephelan]

is it possible, that the organisers realised that they did not have a particularly exciting line up, and it was easier and cheaper to can cel the show . in my experience, unless a show has either/or large aircraft, and noisey combat jets, then they do not get the public attention . i remember some years ago in salthill, watching some excellant aerobatics, by a yak, which were completely ignored by the crowd, whilst a year or 2 later, a couple of straight and level passes by 2 USAF f-16s had the crowds undivided attention

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi Buran,
I regard the horsey set as being highly hypocritical when it comes to aircraft noise.They're quite happy to have their helicopters operate in and out of their stud farms, but if you fly over in your puddle-jumper, they react as if you're dive-bombing the place.Given that every major race event has it's own swarm of noisy rotorcraft, and that racecourses are noisy places in their own right,and that horses are transported, for the most part, in very noisy horseboxes behind equally noisy jeeps, then the horse people are over-reacting when it comes to aircraft noise.Horses are perfectly capable of withstanding the noise of a light aircraft.The stud farmers could cope with one airshow a year.
regards
Gttc

[Buran]

Hi GTTC
I know what you mean, i think it is a bit lame as excuses go, but the council do have to cater to the "hand" that feeds them. Its understandable that they wouldnt go out of their way to accomodate someone who didnt operate by the rules, especially when they were told what they had to do by the council already. In fact, i would have told them to FO if it was me, just on principle.

On the points you make on the noise, in fairness, in the minds of both the council and the horsey set, an air show is an air show. They wont be looking at the line up trying to weigh up the noise characteristics of the planes, they will just be imagining big noisey jets doing flybys. Which is fair enough.
And you are right, animals including horses, can become accustomed to noise. And when they are loaded into a horsebox, they know whats coming after a couple of goes. You dont bring a horse down the M50 in a horse box on his first time. He'll sh1t himself inside out. Or when a helicopter or light aircraft fly overhead, they can hear it coming (relatively slowly). But a low flying jet at pace can scare the crap out of a human, so imagine the effect on a horse? Its not the peak noise on a scale thats the problem. Its the surprise. Our cat at home will let you hoover underneath it no problem, because it knows what a hoover is, and can see us take it out, set it up, etc. But take a plastic bag out of nowhere, and its gone like a shot out the door.

Quote

The stud farmers could cope with one airshow a year.

Yes they could, and it seems they would have too, if the organiser just gave them 28 days notice.

[David Scully]

May help to clarify things,
 The Mach 1 Airshow was cancelled due to a dispute between Kildare County Council (KCC) and the Airshow organisers.
KCC were insisting on a separate licence from that of the IAA licence for spectators watching the show.
KCC were informed of the proposed Airshow at the start of January 2006 and information was submitted. In March 2006 KCC requested additional information regarding the IAA licensing criteria, this was submitted accordingly. KCC felt there was insufficient supporting information in this submission to justify being exempt from a events licence. In April 2006 KCC requested a Senior Council opinion to help KCC " make a final decision as to whether the Airshow required a outdoor events licence under the Planning and Development Act 2000" This Senior Council opinion which supported the organisers view that the event did not require a licence was submitted to KCC in May 2006.
On May 23rd 2006 a letter was sent by KCC to the organisers stating we had not applied for an outdoor events licence and in their opinion the Airshow required one and if we proceeded with the airshow we would face the threat of legal action.
This put the organisers in a very difficult situation indeed, Firstly, a legal challenge would have been very costly. Secondly, all statutory bodies, including Fire Service, Gardai, Ambulance Service, etc may have been prevented from participating in the event as a result of the legal action against the event. The Emergency services, in particulasr, assist in the formulation and implementation of the Event Safety Plan, and are essential to ensure a safe and successful Airshow.
a very detailed Event Management and Safety Plan were in place and several meetings had been held with all the Emergency Services and other agencies involved. Along with the organising team a event controller, deputy event controller, safety officer (crowdside) safety officer (airside) and event manager had been appointed. The Airshow organisers were working alongside the event management company DEM Ltd, who have vast experience of managing large events, e.g., Witness, Eminem, Oxegen and the National Hunt Festival- all at Punchestown.
it must be emphasised that the organisers at no time refused to apply for a outdoor events licence. KCC continued to request further information from the organisers up to April 2006 in order for them to make a decision as to whether or not the Airshow required an events licence. This apparent stalling by KCC eventually brought the event outside the 16 week application period, the minimum time required to apply for the event licence.
Indeed, no other Airshow/Air Display staged in the State to date has required an event licence. the IAA licensing regime is strict and wide-ranging and covers the safety of all participants, spectators and other persons and property on the ground. The organisers are disappointed with KCC stance on the matter considering the many precedents already set.
History shows that all other relevant Counties in the State have embraced such a event.

[Buran]

Hi David,
thanks for the detailed response.
This is really a private matter between the organisers and the KCC, and i have no wish to get myself or this board embroilled in a 'who said what to whom' arguement.

However, I feel it is worth noting that KCC oppinion would appear to differ slightly from Davids account:

Quote

[Ref Peter Elliot's response above] The organisers’ agent asked the county council in January whether an event licence was required for the show. He was told that in the council’s opinion a licence was required, and was offered an opportunity to test this by getting legal advice or by submitting a case for consideration.

It would appear to indicate that the licence was declared to be required in January (more than 16 weeks in advance), and the events after that were conducted to investigate a possible way out. The fact that these were unsuccessful does not alter the fact that the licence could have been applied for in january. Whats the harm in having a licence that you end up not needing? Cost?

Anyway, I dont think this needs to be discussed any further, like i said, it will only end up in an arguement no one can win. I just wanted to give the alternate view.

As someone who would have attended the airshow, and was annoyed that it was cancelled, Im happy to lay the blame at both party's doors, not on one side over the other.