The organisers of one of Oban’s biggest events have been left in limbo after they were told the blaes pitch used for parking is being grassed over.
Oban Live, which attracted 10,000 people, was headlined by K T Tunstall in May at Mossfield Stadium and brought in an estimated £1.1million to the town.
Tickets for next year’s event on June 2 and 3 are due to go on sale in the coming weeks.
But organisers have been told that the blaes pitch beside Mossfield, which they used for parking, will be unavailable this year as it is being seeded with grass in March.
Naomi Hoolahan, head event director for Oban Live, said: “Oban Live has requested information on the removal of the ‘red blaes’ surface from local councillors and Argyll and Bute Council. At present we are waiting for a response. Once we have this information, our event team will look at how and if this will impact plans for Oban Live 2017.
“It is a huge operational challenge to make Mossfield and the surrounding area safe and accessible for major events, part of this operation includes the use of the ‘red blaes’ surface located at the stadium. This surface is essential not only to the Oban Live event but also to other key events held at the stadium where parking and access is already very limited, especially for those with mobility requirements.”
She added: “We hope that the investment in Mossfield will upgrade the current facilities and increase the use of the stadium for events of all kinds.”
A spokesman for Argyll and Bute Council said: “We welcome the economic benefits which Oban Live brings to the town and are committed to continuing to work proactively with its organisers, as we have done in previous years, to ensure the event runs as smoothly as possible.
“With assistance from the Scottish Government, we are investing over £30million to create a fantastic new high school.
“As part of the agreed design for the high school the blaes sports pitch, which is occasionally used as a parking place for events, is being replaced with a new grass pitch, which will meet the needs of both high school and community users. This work will also include upgrading the adjoining car park. These agreed plans have been informed by a public consultation, which included the views of sportscotland, and planning permission was granted on the basis that a grass pitch would be installed, with no significant objections.
“We have been and continue to work closely with Oban Live to effectively manage the additional traffic to the town.”
WHO ELSE COULD BE AFFECTED?
Other major events to take place at Mossfield Stadium include the Argyllshire Gathering and Oban Games and the Camanchd Cup Final.
Senior Steward of the Argyllshire Gathering, Robin Nicholson, said: “We are concerned that the proposal to grass over the blaes pitch will reduce significantly the parking available for the Oban Games.
“We are concerned that this will discourage visitors from attending the games.
“This would likely be bad for business generally in Oban given that the games are an important draw for tourists and visitors in August. We plan to raise the issue with the council to discuss whether there is some solution.”
Camanachd Association chief operating officer, Torquil Macleod, said: “Mossfield Stadium provides an excellent venue for a number of major shinty events, attracting thousands of spectators and broadcast live on television. As with any major event, car-parking is a significant concern.
“The Camanachd Cup Final requires space for approximately 400 vehicles. The last two Camanachd Cup Finals in Oban have been compromised by the lack of available parking at the stadium due to double-booking of the blaes pitch, reducing vehicle capacity at the ground to around 100. We are concerned about what car parking will now be available in support of future major events at the stadium following development of the proposed grass football pitch.”
