Veterans ask Bishop's Stortford Town Council to support Armed Forces Day

The town council has rejected a plea to take responsibility for staging Armed Forces Day in Bishop's Stortford – but will support an event organised by veterans.

Plans for a nationwide Veterans' Day were first announced in February 2006 by then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. Renamed Armed Forces Day in 2009, it has become an annual event observed on the last Saturday of June and celebrates serving and past members of the forces.

In Bishop's Stortford the event has traditionally been organised by the Royal British Legion (RBL). Because of Covid-19, it did not take place in 2020 and 2021. This year, Legion head office told branches it could no longer accept the liability associated with the road closures necessary for a parade.

There was no parade in 2022 after Legion members in Stortford asked the town council to arrange the road closure but were told "outsourcing" that task would not remove the RBL's liability overall and would implicate the town council and possibly invalidate any insurance.

Since then, the Legion has withdrawn entirely from Armed Forces Day organisation and, as a result, five local veterans asked the town council to step in. At the latest meeting of the council's finance and policy committee, chief executive James Parker outlined their proposals.

While national guidance for Armed Forces Day suggests it can include a variety of formats – including public picnics, themed barbecues, street parties and fetes – the veterans were adamant that only a parade through the town centre, rather than an off-road venue like Castle Park, was acceptable.

To avoid the bill for a separate road closure, the town council mooted incorporating the parade into the town's annual carnival schedule, perhaps with a march separate from the floats procession. The suggestion was rejected: the veterans want an annual parade from Windhill to Castle Gardens followed by a service at the war memorial.

Mr Parker said: "Officers regard it as wholly impractical to organise such an event within three weeks either side of carnival, without adversely affecting both carnival and the event itself."

The set-up is similar to Remembrance Day, which is organised and financed by the council. The cost of the road closure, provision of a lectern and public address system, first aid cover and advertising is estimated at £4,500 - with an additional £200 if the veterans cannot provide their own band.

Mr Parker said a grant from the Ministry of Defence to cover half the total might be forthcoming.

He advised that funding the event would add to pressures on next year's budget: "Although estimates are yet to be done, having regard to inflation and recent challenges with recruitment, members are likely to be faced with a choice of either increasing the precept or reducing capital spend if revenue service levels are to be preserved."

Town council leader Cllr John Wyllie said the council did not have the resources to take on another annual event, but councillors wanted to show their support for Armed Forces Day by inviting the veterans to apply for a Brazier Trust grant so that their preferred choice of event could go ahead. Sworder's Field will also be offered to the group free of charge.

His deputy, committee chair Cllr David Snowdon, added: "Bishop's Stortford and this council have been very supportive of the armed forces... but the road closure is expensive."

He said that it was difficult to justify the extra cost of a parade for council taxpayers as well as the disruption for town centre traders.