Poppie, 22 months, and George Tilsley, 3, of Moonah, have fun at the Kids in the Park event on Parliament House lawns yesterday. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE
TASMANIA'S longest serving MP wants to ban kids from sections of Parliament House lawns during the Taste Festival, sparking a war of words with organisers.
The popular Kids in the Park event could be lost to the Taste Festival if Speaker Michael Polley carries out a threat to slash lawn space and the number of stalls, the Hobart City Council says.
A letter from the Parliament Joint House Committee, signed by Mr Polley, has warned Taste organisers only half the lawns at Parliament House could be available next year and permission for food stalls could not be guaranteed.
The threat to Kids in the Park, which attracts 7000 people a day, comes as a tense relationship between Hobart aldermen and state MPs escalates into a war of words over future Taste Festivals.
Ald Peter Sexton, the council's festivals and tourism special committee joint chairman, said council only received permission in late September from the joint house committee that allowed it to proceed with a full program of activities for Kids in the Park.
"If we had only half, or two quadrants, we wouldn't be able to run Kids in the Park," he said.
"Most of these activities couldn't be put on.
"Kids in the Park is one of the reasons why the overall Taste is so successful.
"We've created a utopia for children and families, as one mother said.
"It's fully self-contained." A letter from Mr Polley said the approval for Kids in the Park should not be seen as a precedent.
"The committee is firmly of the view that the confrontational and uncompromising manner in which you have conducted this matter last year and this year has ensured that the committee will reassess the Parliament's relationship with the Hobart City Council in relation to the Taste Festival with the Lord Mayor and the general manager in the new year," he wrote.
He added that it was ridiculous to suggest reducing food stalls and the number of trestles would jeopardise the event.
Yesterday Mr Polley said that half of the area had to be kept free for the public, a separate space in an otherwise crowded precinct.
"We've allowed all their activities, 50 per cent of the area [two quadrants] and a big screen for the cricket," he said.
"The committee is concerned about it becoming too commercialised."
Ald Sexton said planning had started for the next Taste and Kids in the Park.
"We feel it's essential that families have easy access to food and beverages suitable for children without having to cross into the packed Princes Wharf No. 1," he said.
Renovations to the Princes Wharf No. 1 shed had curbed stall numbers at the main site.
Joint chairman Marti Zucco said other aldermen supported the council's stance.
"This is placing the event in jeopardy. I don't think many of them [committee] understand what it's all about," he said.
Other parliament committee members are Sue Smith, Michael Ferguson, Tim Morris, Craig Farrell and Paul Harriss.
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