Events are likely to be held in the city’s parks and green spaces this spring before official planning permission has been granted for them.
People living in areas where the number of events has dramatically increased in recent years – such as Valley Gardens – were delighted when a court ruling made it more difficult for open spaces to be used for more than 28 days a year without planning permission.
Brighton and Hove City Council is now planning to apply to change the permitted use of a handful of areas so performances can be held there for more than this time limit.
But just two weeks before work to prepare spaces for the Brighton Festival and Fringe, no applications have been submitted.
Brighton and Hove News understands the outdoor events team is still working on the applications, which will be for a temporary five-year change of use.
They should be submitted before the 28-day limit is exceeded – but as applications take weeks or even months to determine, there is now no chance of them being decided, let alone approved, before it’s up.
It is not illegal to implement a change of use without planning permission, but councils can then issue stop notices or enforcement notices, and breaching one of those can lead to prosecution.
But the council’s cabinet member for recreation Alan Robins seems relaxed about the prospect of falling foul of the council’s planning enforcement team.
He said: “The appropriate planning applications for the planned event space will be submitted before the 28-day limit is reached.
“We’re keen to see this area continue to be a vital part of our outdoor events offering, while balancing the needs of all our residents. For example, we have excluded some areas from our plans so that there is always green space available for people.
“A lot of time and local insight has gone into finalising our plans and we will be proceeding with the work with planning pending, with it expected to get underway in around two weeks.
“If our application for the event space is not successful, we will have to return that area section to its former condition, as any other applicant would be required to do.
“The council has followed the correct process throughout and we are excited at the potential this site has for hosting future events for residents and visitors alike to enjoy.”
A spokeswoman for the Friends of Valley Gardens, an informal residents group which is opposing the extensive use of the area for events throughout the year, said: “Whilst due process will be followed, the usual last-minute timing is clearly geared towards distraction.
“A carte blanche five-year planning consent would disallow a public voice and damage democracy.”
Have the actual organisers been made aware that their events are illegal ?
Once again, the Events Team ride roughshod over public opinion. We had steel bariers being thrown down from a truck at 05:15 on Friday for the Marathon in Preston Park. Even the Site Manager was disgusted with what happened when I spoke to him later. This type of thing is typical of the poor management of events and nobody should be under any illusion that regarding this news about no planning permissions being given will simply result in Events “figuring things out” with their colleagues in Planning and no sanctions will be enforced. It’s simply not acceptable for one council department to police another and it’s about time the Council took notice of local residents who have to suffer ever increasing inconvenience just so the city can stage events in unsuitable locations.
It’s just more sleaze from the council.
The spaces are given away for significantly less than any other city to a small group of chums, who don’t even have to tender for the space. Sometimes there are not even proper contracts in place and the promotor running the event is not the one contracted. The promotors make their millions and then leave the spaces in a shambles. Residents have even been told by officials that it would be unfair to make the promotors restore the places, as it would cut into their profits…profits which we already subsidise.
The planning permission process is just a sham as the events are advertised and sold out before it has even been applied for…and we know it will be passed through without any consultation.
Meanwhile council officials threaten residents and hold fake consultations where promises are made that are not kept.
We need a professional events team who can run professional events without all the grift and gaslighting. Brighton deserves better than this.
Can you name these chums or at least qualify the accusation, otherwise your words are meaningless.
What threats have been made to residents and can you name one actual fake consultation.
You may not like this but if you endlessly make such claims, at least back them up with real facts, not just hear say.
It may not be illegal to hold these events but I think it will be if they try to charge any entry fee or prevent lawful access.