It didn't take long before the Community Park Ranger came and laid down the so-called law on where and how they could hang their banners. Its wasn't the fault of the Community Park Ranger as they are just on the front line and trying to earn a living anyway they can to put food on the table. This we can sympathise with and understand. Sadly due to massive cuts in basic law enforcement departments we are now coming face to face with relatively unqualified and poorly trained individuals who on given the slight bit of authority tend to take this illegal power to extremes.
The debate rolled on…The offending banners other than those put in trees by Stik were taken down and laid down on the grass. The Rangers wanted them out of sight but later accepted that the banners were doing no real harm. The point is there was no recourse, no-one they could call to ask permission if they could be displayed on the grass.
It should be noted however that if Dow didn't pull out of the event the park would've been drenched in their banners. History states that Victoria Park was the first public park in the UK. The public part of the term Public Park means its open to the public but doesn't belong to the public because it belongs to the Council and though theoretically the Council is funded by public money you still cant hang a banner in that public space…
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