Award-winning Chatteris In Bloom flower displays at risk over £165 health-and-safety course
Stuart Leithes reports for ITV News Anglia on what volunteers have branded "bureaucracy gone mad"
Award-winning volunteers have been left furious - after being told they must complete a £165-a-head health and safety course before they can fit their hanging baskets.
The Cambridgeshire town of Chatteris won a gold award in last year's Anglia in Bloom competition for their entry, which included several flower arrangements in hanging baskets.
But the organisers of Chatteris in Bloom have now been told that volunteers are not allowed to put baskets on the lamppost brackets without first doing a safety course - which costs £165.
Joanna Melton, Chatteris town clerk, described it as "bureaucracy gone mad".
"I think it's an unnecessary strain on volunteers and I think if they wanted these people to do this course, they should offer the course and it should be as short as possible.
"I did make the point to them that we don't value our volunteers enough. We put all these obstacles in their way.
"If we keep doing this, we will lose volunteers."
The town council clerk had a meeting with Cambridgeshire County Council and has been told it is because of the risk from the power supply in the lampposts.
Sue Unwin, president of Chatteris in Bloom, said: "Why can't these councils work with us, instead of putting obstacles in the way?
"We've obviously got public liability [insurance] and we do our risk assessments and everything, and now we've got to have the health and safety course.
"It's just one thing too many for us. I mean, at the end of the day we're just volunteers.
"Who wants to keep doing all this red tape just to do something in our own time?"
A spokesman for Cambridgeshire County Council said: “All we are asking is that any group wishing to create displays on our streetlights – which could involve putting heavy items overhead, on streetlights directly connected to the local power grid – [should] contact us first.
"This is so we can make sure essential independent safety training is completed for everyone's wellbeing. This is not red tape, it’s about keeping people safe.”
The council also said it understood there was already one trained volunteer in the area.
If the issue cannot be resolved in the next few weeks there might not be any more hanging baskets on lampposts in Chatteris, warned volunteers.
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