THE OWNERS of two funfairs which have arrived in Monmouthshire in the last two weeks say criticism they have received is unfair.
James Danter arrived in Caldicot last week with his fair – as he has done annually for the last 35 years – but he was greeted in some quarters by angry residents, who accused him of increasing “complacency” in a county which has seen relatively few coronavirus cases compared to the rest of Wales.
Fellow showman Elliot Deakin experienced similar criticism when he took his fair to Abergavenny two weeks ago, and he says he “packed up early” on Wednesday last week due to “numerous complaints”.
Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) says both fairgrounds were inspected, and both were deemed to be working in a safe manner.
“It’s so unfair because we’ve done everything in our power to make these fairs as safe as possible,” said Mr Danter, whose family have a long history in the industry dating back to the 1930s.
“We haven’t advertised anywhere else and we’ve come here because we saw there were fewer cases.”
Mr Danter’s business has lost more than £3,500 in order to make the fair safe, with PPE, sanitiser stations, fencing, and training to limit transmission.
“It’s an extremely difficult time for showmen all around the country,” he said. “We’ve had to cancel trips to Neath and Tewkesbury, which are like Christmas for us, because we couldn’t have effectively enforced social distancing there.
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“For our smaller fairs like this, we’ve spread it out over two weekends to ensure social distancing, but it means we’re losing a lot of money on rent and other costs.”
A single loan, to be paid back next year, has helped them to survive, while most showmen – including Mr Danter and Mr Deakin – have become key workers, driving delivery lorries.
“We’re barely surviving as operating fairs and it’s disheartening to see the criticism when we are doing all we can to get back to normal in a safe way,” Mr Danter added.
“I understand people have lost confidence, but I’d make a plea to people to actually read our reviews on how hard we are working.”
Mr Deakin said: “People who came [to the fair in Abergavenny] were very positive, but we did have complaints and we decided to leave on the Wednesday.
“People are scared and it’s understandable, but we did everything we could to keep people safe.”
Most fairgoers reported the events in Abergavenny and Caldicot being “very well organised” with appropriate restrictions in place.
An MCC spokeswoman said: “Some residents voiced concerns over the recent travelling fair in Abergavenny, and another in Caldicot.
“Covid legislation in Wales allows travelling fairs to open and trade. The council, together with Gwent Police, have responsibilities to ensure compliance with the law, but cannot change it.
“This authority undertook regular checks at these events to ensure compliance and reported high standards at both fairgrounds.”
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