Fireworks - To Whom It May Concern

To whom it may concern,

The Currie Fireworks Display has been a cherished community event held at King George V Park for over 40 years. We always work within national safety guidelines and local regulations. We also undergo scrutiny with City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) as part of the licensing for the event. We complete a full risk assessment each year with our professional fireworks provider, which includes consideration of nearby livestock on neighbouring land. This risk assessment is reviewed by CEC as part of the licensing process.

We also endeavour to raise awareness well in advance by means of banners in the local area, covering in local print media (e.g. Currie & Balerno News) as well as extensively on social media. Where we are aware of individual livestock owners, we also contact them individually. We do this in order that livestock owners can take any precautionary steps.

We take on feedback from the local community and have used this to adapt the fireworks display in recent years. We have instructed the fireworks provider to start the display quieter and build the intensity during the display, where traditionally a display may start with high intensity for effect.

There is a misconception that 'silent' fireworks exist. We have discussed this with our fireworks provider and they have confirmed that silent fireworks do not exist, since launching and bursting invariably generate noise. Having discussed quieter firework options with our provider, we concluded that the display would come at a considerable premium and with reduced visual effects.

As a charitable community event, we need to balance our event outlay with making the event financially accessible, as well as being a fun event that the community pay to attend. We also believe that the presence of a low-cost accessible community fireworks display reduces the number of private displays in the area, as well as anti-social use of fireworks. On balance, we have elected for the approach to start the display with low intensity in order to minimise any immediate shock to animals or young children.

Currie, Balerno and District Round Table are a volunteer community group. Please be assured that we value our rural neighbours and want to continue this long-running community event in a way that's respectful to all community stakeholders.