All tied up in red tape: Worry for community events in Ceredigion

Future carnivals, firework displays, concerts, and community events could be cancelled after Ceredigion County Council imposed ‘costly’ red tape on organisers.

The council confirmed to the Cambrian News that organisers must now ‘prove competence’ by meeting traffic management criteria before being granted consent to proceed.

This follows ‘poorly managed’ events where the public and participants have been ‘put at risk’, the council says.

Some events have already been cancelled due to the increasingly stringent requirements, such as the New Quay soapbox cart racing derby.

The rules have been discussed at Aberystwyth Town Council meetings for two weeks running.

Since then, a host of councillors from across Ceredigion have expressed concerns that volunteers may now have to fork out £120 per person for traffic management training courses to satisfy the council that they are competent - a financial burden beyond most non-profit groups.

The county council told the Cambrian News that no one is required to take training, but the authority’s event guidance document appears to suggest the only ways to ‘demonstrate competence’ are to have a certificate or accreditation in traffic management or a CV showing a record of marshalling previous events for the council’s consideration. It also refers to an ‘adequate provision of trained marshals.’ Many events up until now have been marshalled almost entirely by untrained volunteers.

Aberystwyth Town Council was set to pay £2,400 for 12 people to receive training – but will now only send one, after some councillors deemed the content of training ‘inappropriate’. One Cardigan town councillor is set to go on the course. But some fear the courses represent an unnecessary cost to the taxpayer or to cash-strapped town and community councils.

Chairman of charity Working 4 New Quay and organiser of the town’s annual soapbox derby, Ian Richardson, said he was surprised to learn on applying for clearance in January that the council expects a minimum of 12 weeks’ notice for road closures – which he says was not the case in previous years. But the council insists this is not new guidance.

The authority also charges £47 per 100 square metres for public land use during events or for other purposes such as putting up Christmas trees. This price is set to rise to £51 in April.

Mr Richardson told the Cambrian News he was forced to cancel this year’s event, which was set for next month, due to the new traffic management guidance and the 12-week notice period he claims he wasn’t informed about until it was too late.

He said: “They also told us we’re no longer allowed to marshal the soapbox event ourselves with volunteers, and all marshals must have the appropriate training and qualifications.

“We need about 30 marshals on that course, and we can’t afford to be paying 30 marshals – so it must be done within our volunteer group, but obviously even that’s not acceptable anymore.

“The council says it wants community but it’s potentially stopping any community groups from staging their events – because most of us are non-profit making and reliant on people’s generosity.

“It’s enough work without all these extra hoops to jump through and then on top of that you’ve got the financial implications and it’s just not viable - so we cancelled it.

“Hopefully we can do it again in 2024 but if it’s £120 for training per volunteer, we haven’t got £4,000 to fork out. So that’s it.”

County and town councillor for Cardigan Sian Maehrlein – who is also on the town’s carnival committee – said she wants clarity about the new expectations as the future of the event would be jeopardised if a high number of volunteers needed to undergo training.

Aberaeron county councillor Elizabeth Evans said she is most concerned about the rising cost of road closures which already total more than £700 just to process an application for less than five days of closure – and she fears it could soon go up further.

Liberal Democrat Aberystwyth town councillor Mair Benjamin said the regime of red tape was ‘disgusting’ and could spell the end for many community events in the town.

Mayor of New Quay Julian Evans says he fears for the future of firework displays and an upcoming concert in the town.

Independent county councillor for Borth, Hugh Hughes, says he will be approaching highways officers for more information – as he is concerned for the future of the annual Borth Carnival.

In response, a Ceredigion County Council spokesperson said: “Ceredigion County Council is aware of certain events that have taken place which have been poorly managed putting the public and event participants at risk.

“This is obviously unacceptable, and the authority must satisfy itself of the competence of those organising and controlling any traffic management measures which are necessary to protect the safety of all road users before it can issue a license for the use of the road space.

“We can confirm that there is no requirement for organisers to attend the training being facilitated by Ceredigion County Council, however it remains the responsibility of the organisers to demonstrate the competency of their staff.

“Should organisers wish to attend the training, then the cost is £120 per delegate. Whilst it would be preferable that they are, marshals do not have to be fully trained and qualified.

“Ceredigion County Council is not aware that the soap box event in New Quay was (apparently) called off due to costs.

“Ceredigion County Council is more than happy to provide advice and support to those involved in the organisation of events and activities throughout the County and is eager to ensure that public safety is maintained in order that everyone can enjoy these events.”

Labour Party town councillors Dylan Lewis-Rowlands and Mathew Norman contacted the Cambrian News to raise objections to the council’s requirements which they consider an attempt to prevent future protests and demonstrations – and ‘shut down democracy via the backdoor’.

The Labour councillors liken the council’s move to that of the Conservative Party in the UK Parliament which has passed a raft of legislation restricting the rights of protestors and striking workers.

They’re also concerned the new criteria has been imposed without being debated or approved by county councillors.

Cllr Norman said: “We call on Ceredigion County Council to reconsider this draconian, anti-democratic move, and work to redefine this process to ensure and balance public safety and the public’s right to a democratic voice.

“This measure is a knee jerk reaction to an unfortunate public safety incident.”

The council spokesperson was unclear about whether protest and demonstration organisers would be subject to the same expectations as those holding ‘events.’ But they said protests requirements were a matter for Dyfed-Powys Police and not the council.