The new conditions attached to Dreamland’s entertainment license, following the awful tragedy of 29th June in which one young person died and 21 were hospitalized, show Dreamland and its owner, global entertainment giant Live Nation Inc, to be despicable lowlife's, who have tried to heap the blame for their failings upon the victims of a tragedy which might possibly have been avoided.
In a submission to yesterday’s licensing committee which imposed the new conditions, Dreamland bosses made the outrageous and completely untruthful statement that the tragedy arose “not through the fault of SHL,(Dreamland’s immediate owner) but because of the scourge of unlawful drugs in society”.
Did we not hear a similar responsibility dodging argument 36 years ago when 97 people were crushed to death at the Hillsborough football disaster, for which a non-existent horde of supposedly drunken fans, were blamed for what was in fact the total failure of the football club and the police to keep the fans safe?
The fact that many new, and some would say tough, conditions have now been included in Dreamland’s revised entertainment licence suggests to me that the previous conditions were not effective enough in dealing with the safety of concert goers. It may even be that the previous conditions were ignored and not followed by the company.
This is borne out by the 14 statements submitted, within a very short consultation period, by members of the public to the licensing committee. Based upon their personal experiences of Dreamland the authors of these statements, some of which are long and detailed, have nothing favourable to say about security and safety arrangements at the venue.
I understand that the police and perhaps even the coroner will be investigating the events of the 29th June which may reveal further evidence of the company’s failings in keeping those who spent a lot of money on tickets safe from harm.
I will not repeat it here, but a description about one of the victims of that day which was included in Dreamland’s statement to the committee was, in my opinion, a crude and disturbing example of character assassination which I think was deliberately used to fuel the fire of victim blaming and responsibility dodging.
Like it or not, the truth is that concerts, festivals, and nightclubs go hand in hand with recreational drug use. I should know I’ve been there and done that. So rather than blaming those who use recreational drugs for any and all problems that might occur at an event, it is the job of the event promoter to accept reality and manage drug use at venues as effectively and safely as possible.
This is why the new licence conditions were imposed because it was felt that Dreamland was not doing enough and had therefore, contributed to the tragedy.
But it not just Dreamland’s unfair and unjust victim blaming which shows the company to be a nasty piece of work, it’s also the barely hidden, mafia-style, bullying and threats contained within its submission to the licencing committee that concern me.
In a document of 9 pages which is supposed to be focusing on the events of 29th June, almost three pages are dedicated to the questionable economic benefits Dreamland is said to have brought to Margate.
Whilst these claims are doubtful, their relevance to the events of 29th June is beyond my understating. I can only assume that this unnecessary and unrelated material has been included in Dreamland’s submission for the sole purpose of warning the council that if it dares to go hard on the company by suspending, withdrawing, or seriously modifying its licence, then it might up sticks and go, leaving behind it a badly damaged local economy.
It may be the case that the council’s sale of the Margate Winter Gardens, which the owners of Dreamland are widely rumoured to be interested in acquiring, is also being used as a lever to persuade TDC to treat its licence review with undeserved leniency.
Arising from what was possibly an avoidable tragedy, is the unpleasant face of Dreamland’s owner Live Nation Inc, an international music events giant. When called to account for its contribution towards the death and hospitalisation of some of its customers, it seeks to blame the victims for causing their own misfortunes, and facing the well-deserved possibility of losing its licence, bullies and threatens the regulator into letting the company off lightly.
Is this the really the sort of company that Margate’s entertainment industry needs?
Call Out – Have you worked at Dreamland or do you have some knowledge of it? Do you have information about Dreamland you would like to share? Please contact me on 07866588766 email 07866588766. 100% confidential.
Comments