Council lied says circus owner

19th January 2006

KATHY WEBB

A circus owner refusing to pay a $500 daily fee to stage shows on the Domain in Havelock North next week is accusing the Hastings District Council of killing off his show. But an animal welfare group says Hawke's Bay people should not support the circus because it keeps exotic animals in cages.

The acting mayor of Hastings, Cynthia Bowers, said today Whirling Brothers Circus owner Tony Ratcliffe had refused to apply for a waiver of domain hire charges, despite claiming he was doing a lot of good for groups in the community.

The $500 daily charge applied to commercial activities only, and groups providing a benefit to the community could get a discount.

Council staff had done research to ensure hire charges for the domain were comparable to other areas before they were introduced in September, and she had asked to see those comparisons.

Mr Ratcliffe said today he had no dispute with the Hastings District Council.

"I won't deal with the council. They're liars. They say their charges are in line with other areas, but they're not. They've killed something good for people," he said. Hans Kriek, campaign manager for SAFE, an animal rights group, said his organisation had been trying for 15 years to get Mr Ratcliffe to retire his exotic animals such as lions and an elephant.

Whirling Bros circus was "a relic of the past. People don't see the use of these animals as acceptable anymore", Mr Kriek said.

Mr Ratcliffe's circus is at Anderson Park in Napier, where he is paying a daily charge of $275. He planned to be in Havelock from January 26-31, and was prepared to pay up to $300 a day for the domain.