You're Pulling My Leg

Fundraiser told he needs nod from Parades Commission.

"THE WORLD has gone mad' - that's the exasperated view of a big-hearted Ulsterman, forced to tell the PARADES COMMISSION about his latest charity fundraiser.

David Stitt thought that local cops were pulling his leg when they told him that his brainwave - a car-pulling event - needed to get the 'say-so' from the commission. The stunned 35-year-old concrete company worker told Sunday Life that he had to fill out a Parades Commission form in order to hold the event aimed at raising money for tsunami disaster victims.

David told Sunday Life that the surreal series of events began after innocently asking cops in Newtownards about a charity collection permit and traffic arrangements for the planned car-pull, on July 23.

Said David: ' I was told that it wasn't the Traffic Branch who would need to deal with this - but the Parades Commission.

"I really thought that they were joking. But they weren't. "I couldn't believe it!"

David added: "I had to fill out a form, called an 11/1, which had all these questions like 'how many bands will be there? and 'what are the marshalling arrangements?'

"It was absolutely nothing to do with what I was planning to do. And I ended up scoring most parts of it out.

"I kept thinking to myself what on earth could the Parades Commission have to do with this? This is a charity car-pull - not a parade.

"The whole thing is an absolute joke."

David, who has defied two recent, serious calf muscle injuries to continue his 24-year charity fundraising crusade, went on: "the world has gone mad when things like this can happen."

A Parades Commission spokesman told Sunday Life that virtually any person or organisation wishing to hold a public procession had to notify them.

Said the spokesman: "It's a the law under the Public Processions Act 1998, which exempts only two things - Salvation Army marches and funerals." However he added, of David's specific complaint: "he is not applying for the right to have this car-pull.

"He is merely notifying us. So, he does not need to wait on a green light from us. "David Stitt's notification will have come in from the police and put in a file here, marked 'Newtownards parades'. "It will not come to the attention of the actual Parades Commission, as it is not a contentious parade."