Mudbath at the park; COMMENT.

MANY readers will look with horror on the scene in Greenhead Park after the visit of the Chinese State Circus.

The view is more reminiscent of a motorcycle scrambling circuit than of a green and pleasant area which should be one of the jewels in Huddersfield's crown.

The huge and muddy tracks left behind after the departure of the circus will surely take a long time to put right.

In fact, so long that it must put forthcoming events at risk because of the bad state of the ground.

Real community events like the Mela/Huddersfield Carnival weekend, which was hit by poor weather last year.

Another cancellation or scaling down for the second year in succession could deal a knock-out blow to the two very popular events - a worrying thought indeed.

How has it come to this when Kirklees Council is so very precious about other land in its possession?

A recent request to use a tractor to cut the grass on a football field was met with a resounding 'no' because of the weight of the vehicle - yet articulated lorries weighing 40 tonnes are allowed on Greenhead Park in the wet.

Hard cash paid over by the circus will have played the deciding factor, we reckon, and it is always possible the council might have faced a compensation claim if admission had been denied.

But commonsense should have prevailed. After all, it is not as if the bad ground conditions came on suddenly.

Some answers are needed - especially about the impact that can be expected on other events due to be held in the park over the coming months.

Huddersfield will be a poorer place without them.