Fireworks for Siggiewi feast to go ahead

Fireworks for the feast of St Nicholas in Siggiewi may continue to be let off from the current site, a court ruled this morning.

The decision followed a request by the owners of a number of farmhouses near Siggiewi who called on the court to issue a warrant of prohibitory injunction to stop the letting off of fireworks near their properties.

In a reply, fireworks enthusiasts said they had been letting off fireworks from the site well before neighbours moved in and the site respected current regulations.

The residents pleaded that the field from where the fireworks were let off was not sufficiently distant from a public road which was used regularly in terms of legal notice 243 issued in 1998 and subsequently amended.

Furthermore, the field was very close to the residences and next door to stables and a falconry, posing a danger to people, animals and properties.

The fireworks enthusiasts said they had been using the site to let off fireworks for more than 30 years without anyone objecting.

They had applied to the Commissioner of Police for a permit to let off fireworks and it had been issued in terms of existing regulations.

They also insisted that the safety distances laid down in the regulations were being respected.