The Deer, Deer...Shot Ourselves in the Foot Award
Goes to...
RHS Bridgewater
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 14th annual Salford Star Mary Burns Awards which will happen online between now and sometime in the New Year. Please dress in formal evening wear, grab yourself some warm white wine and prepare to give it up for the most deserving individuals and organisations in the city for their stupid statements, dodgy dealings and iffy activities over the past twelve months.
So, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado may we present the 2020 Salford Star Mary Burns Awards...
The Salford Star asked online who should win this year's first award and the answer was overwhelmingly that the trophy hunt should begin with an honour for RHS Bridgewater, which spectacularly shot itself in the foot when it confirmed rumours of a deer cull that involved nine slaughtered roe deer at its new site in Worsley which is due to open next May.
Salford City Council pumped £19million into the RHS enterprise, fending off criticism that the skint authority might have had better things to spend the money on. Since then, there's been a big campaign to get the community onside, with offers of free visits, workshops, volunteering opportunities and some paid jobs...
...All that was blown out of the water at the end of November when the RHS officers admitted to rumours flying around the city that they had culled, by 'rifle', nine roe deer at the site, to "limit the significant potential damage to plants, shrubs and trees" and to, weirdly, "maintain healthy herd sizes"... (see here)
The Salford community was having none of it and the backlash was immediate with over 12,000 people signing a petition to stop any repetition. Local Tory councillors declared themselves "astonished" and "appalled"...
Meanwhile, Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, said Salford Council "recognises that herd management may sometimes be necessary" and declared that "An explicit aim of the garden and surrounding area is to increase and expand the biodiversity of our city for many animals including deer to thrive..." Hmmmm...
Samsy on Twitter, backed by many others, nominated the RHS in this community category for "breaking promises, being evasive, killing 10 deer [9? 11? A zillion?] and keeping the remaining deer in an enclosure...there's much more, but I'd be tweeting all night..."
So, ladies and gentlemen, stroke your Bambis, mount your trophies and rut like you've never rutted before for the winner of the first Salford Star Mary Burns Award for 2020...
The Deer, Deer...Shot Ourselves in the Foot Award
Goes to...RHS Bridgewater!!!
If someone from RHS Bridgewater would like to make an acceptance speech please use the comments box below.
To see last year's winners of the Salford Star Mary Burns Awards click here and follow the links at the end of the article
See also this year's other winners of the Salford Star Mary Burns Awards...
The Feed The Rich Award - English Cities Fund - click here
LS Lowry Award for Grotty Terraced Housing Salford City Council click here
Uncle Joe Stalin Award for Open and Democratic Government Salford City Council - click here
The George Bush Read My Lips Award - Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett - click here
Knowing Your Community Award - Salford City Council - click here
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