IT is with great sadness and a tinge of anger that I write to say that the loss of the Dales Festival of Food and Drink will be a huge blow to the dales’ economy (D&S Times, Jul 14).

It was a fantastic decision to launch such an event following foot and mouth. The committee realised something had to be done – and they need commending for that – so why, then, do they not have the vision to take it on for the next 20 years?

The only thing that has happened is that the committee has not let people in with new ideas and vision, and so over the last four years the event has gone stale and is not working anymore – it is the same event with the same layout and now charges £9 entry for one day.

This is something I predicted as chair of the Leyburn Business Association a few years ago. I, with the great help of Kate Laughlin at Richmondshire District Council, set about putting on a fringe festival in the town, after I visited Ludlow, but our Food Festival Committee would not recognise it and so it was doomed to fail.

Rather than scrap the festival both Leyburn town council and the Business Association need to come together for the good of the town and businesses. They need to stop the “self” attitude and reach out to people wanting to help.

Let’s bring in new ideas and let’s put on a bigger and better food festival in 2016, and one that is back in the town – either fully or partly – and one that is FREE for the public to enjoy.

If we don’t get our festival going, I’m sure that the Yorkshire Game Fair committee would be more than happy to take it round to Hornby and Bedale.

Andy Brook, Middleham.