Due to poor organization, no admission was sought for the Highland Games

At the Highland Games at Keltrop on 7th August, when a man was killed by a stray metal ball, very little attention was paid to the formal side of the organization of the event. This is one of the reasons why no one applies for permission. This is the conclusion of the COT Research Institute which investigated the circumstances of the incident.

According to researchers, the Highland Games shall be considered a licensed event. This is not happening because there is no information on the municipal website. According to the researchers, this leaves more room for organizers to decide at their own discretion whether an event requires a permit or not.

In addition, the organization paid particular attention to ‘practical matters’, the report concludes. From this it can be concluded that no one within the organization is involved in matters like permit applications.

No blame on the municipality

The municipality of Keltrop-Mierlo cannot be blamed for this, the researchers conclude. The organizer of the event is not the municipality. Officials aware of the incident had no part in applying for permission.

Therefore the onus of applying for permits rests entirely with the organisers. Due to the lack of permission application, the municipality was unable to carry out monitoring work. It is not the municipality’s responsibility to actively monitor whether potential events should be monitored, the researchers believe.

Clarify

COT advises the Municipality of Keltrop-Mierlo to clarify when an event may or may not require a permit. Additionally, the municipality must review the permit process with event organizers annually.

A scenario should also be drawn up so that event initiators do not forget or skip steps when applying for a permit. The Municipality of Geldrup-Meerlow announces its acceptance of the recommendations.