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BALPPA targets seaside ‘stealth tax’…
The British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA) is concerned that is members will suffer from the UK government’s new Machine Gaming Duty (MGD) following an admission by a senior representative of HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs).
A PwC report, published by BALPPA in July 2011,
showed the new tax structure would expose seaside amusement businesses because family amusement machines, skill games, ticket redemption, novelty prize games and machines such as crane grabs and penny falls, which are exempt under the current system, will be included for the first time. Speaking at the convention of the BACTA coin-op
trade association on October 13, Andy Leggett of HMRC’s Tobacco & Alcohol Strategy Policy admitted that MGD would inevitably create, “winners and losers.” BALPPA is now seeking assurances from the economic secretary Chloe Smith that the threat to Britain’s seaside towns has been taken into account and that its members must not be penalised for investing in their businesses. “To hear government officials to say that there will be losers from a change in tax and imply that this is okay in the overall scheme of things is absolutely galling,” says BALPPA member John Bollom, owner of Mumbles Pier in South Wales. “The pier has been in our family for three generations and restricting the
…and asks government to take tourism seriously (again)
The UK government is accused is ignoring tourism in a new planning policy document, according to BALPPA. “Tourism needs to be recognised as a significant industry and one which can make a substantial contribution to the restructuring of the UK economy, “ says Nick Laister, senior director of RPS, which has submitted a representation on behalf of BALPPA concerning the National Planning Policy Framework. ”Despite employing over 3 million people and generating £115 billion
recovery of VAT on our repair expenditure will only add to the spiralling costs maintaining these much loved structures that are so vital to the seaside economy.”
[$183m/€132m) per annum to the UK economy, tourism is notable by its absence from the document. Only rural areas benefit from any specific guidance.” BALPPA also asks for the recognition or urban tourism, a distinction to be made between tourism and leisure, simpler and clearer planning documents, support for sustainable development, and agreement that there is no necessary contradiction between increased levels of development and protecting and enhancing the environment.
www.balppa.org www.rpsgroup.com
Keith Sparks 1936-2011
British theme park designer and creative Keith Sparks passed away on October 11 at Beccles War Memorial Hospital in Suffolk, England. He was 75 and leaves a wife Bobbie, three step children and seven grandchildren.
“Sparky (as he was known to his friends) put ‘showbiz’ into the British theme park industry,” remembers friend and former collaborator John Wardley. “He made attractions enchanting, thrilling, mystifying, comical, and above all fun.” Trading as Sparks Creative Services,
Keith worked with many parks including Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Alton Towers, both in the UK and overseas. Later he helped set up the attraction Russell Grant’s Astrology World at Granada Studios Tour in Manchester, before establishing Attractions Projects Worldwide (APW), which brought him back into the park industry. Working with clients such as Merlin Entertainments, notably on its Dungeon attractions, Keith also played a major creative role on the opening on Santa World in Lapland, Finland, together with Bruce Carter of Rex Studios. “His background as a puppeteer and entertainer gave Keith a deep grass- roots understanding of the minds of his audience, and his practical down-to- earth approach combined with his mischievous sense of humour made him a delightful person to work with,” adds Wardley. “My collaborations with him on Chessington’s Professor Burp’s Bubbleworks and Alton Towers’ Haunted House provided some of the happiest and most fulfilling periods in my career. Our industry has lost a wonderful pioneer, and he shall be missed.”
10 NOVEMBER 2011
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