Zippo's loses its Acton Green show after 15 years

Zippo's Circus has become the first commercial event to lose its regular spot on Acton Green Common under Ealing Council’s new measures to protect local green spaces.

Last year more than 150 signatures were presented to the Council asking for steps to be taken to avoid further damage being caused to Acton Green.

Historically over the course of the year a number of funfairs, Zippo's Circus and the Bedford Festival's Green Days are held on the green. Local Councillor Gary Malcolm said that he had received a lot of complaints about the noise and the problems with litter and damage to the ground relating to the increasing number of fun-fairs.

He told ChiswickW4.com, "Zippos caused alot of damage to Acton Green creating large holes in the ground. Although the repairs came out of their deposit, the ground takes time to mend and with all the rain we had it took a lot. It still isnt great."

He continued, "Those who hire it need to be better at managing it. The council have failed before in managing events but the hirers also have to be responsible. Zippos weren't. But feedback from future events they run elsewhere is improved then they could come back to Acton Green."

This year would have been Zippo’s 16th year in succession on Acton Green.

Zippo’s Circus Martin Burton said that he didn’t think that two fairs and no circus was what residents really wanted from the consultation. He told a local newspaper, "I am very disappointed that Zippo's won’t be in Chiswick in 2010, we really look forward to visiting and have a lot of friends who bring their families every year.”

He added, "I have no idea why the council has chosen to put in two fairs and no circus at Acton Green but I think it shows they don't understand that the local population, who tend to be families, actually want the circus to take place.”

The value of the programme of community events in parks including funfairs and circuses to Ealing Council is estimated at £75,000 in 2009-10. This income is used to offset the cost of running Ealing’s Festival and Events programme throughout the borough. The consultation paper noted that local impact of events such as funfairs and circuses needs to be considered in this light, i.e. if the income from these events is reduced; the overall cost of running events will increase.

Last month Ealing Council announced that they wouldn’t be holding the Ealing Literary Festival this year as they believed it proved unpopular and not ‘good value for money.’

March 27, 2010