Member Article

Bureaucracy causing a halt in village fetes

Village fetes, a traditional and well established Sunday outing, are coming under unmanageable pressure from bureaucracy, and fetes are closing because of more and more paperwork pilling up, according to a Telegraph article.

A fete in Headley, Hampshire, has been cancelled because of paperwork, with at least 15 licences, legal agreements, forms and certificates, needed to hold a typical British Summer fair.

If a person in charge breaks the terms of a licence, they can face a £20,000 fine or six months in prison, or be sued if stringent insurance requirements are not adhered to.

Rosemary Schofield, Chairman of the village fete committee in Headley, said: “If you are spending all your time on bureaucracy, rather than organising the actual activities, it puts people off, particularly young people who are working.

“They don’t have the time to go off to the council to get licences or spend all day on the phone, and that will be a loss in terms of the future.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .