OVER 450 letters of complaints regarding a controversial annual fair have been sent to various councils in an attempt to enforce tighter control and encourage organisation, an action group said.

The Appleby Fair Communities Group compiled a Google Form for people to sign online and send off to councils such as Westmorland and Furness, Appleby Town, and Long Marton Parish.

463 letters were sent at the time of reporting, 317 of which went to the unitary authority.

Karen Brenan, from the group, said the aim is to enforce ‘general safety’ and minimise the impact it has on residents.

“The majority aren’t benefitting from it," she claimed. "No one likes to see the animal cruelty, and no one likes to see the mess.

“It’s stepping away from being a cultural event to becoming something that is a free-for-all.”

She said businesses often close during the event because of ‘hassle’.

The main aim of the group is to get an authority to 'claim responsibility for it as an organised event', because by doing so several laws and regulations will be enforced.

“If someone takes responsibility, they have to follow the guidelines, it forces change,” Ms Brenan said, saying facilities provided like toilets aren’t adequate and there’s often a 'dangerous' number of caravans on Fair Hill, which Appleby Town Council is responsible for.

Another hot issue is that of costing and transparency. The group argues it costs the taxpayer too much, particularly with street cleaning, and there’s a lack of transparency given that last year’s costs still haven’t been published.

The Multi-Agency Strategic Coordinating Group (MASCG), which works to facilitate the fair and make it safe, held a post-fair meeting on Wednesday, June 26 in Appleby.

MASCG chair, and Westmorland and Furness Council's director for thriving places, Steph Cordon, said the meeting was fully attended.

A ‘constructive and measured discussion’ was had and from it MASCG can find ways to ‘try and do the best’ it can next year, Ms Cordon said.

“Animal welfare was a big concern and we all share that," she said.

“Residents don’t want anti-social behaviour, and this year there was a real intelligence-led police operation where we targeted the minority of people who were criminals, who shouldn’t be there and were causing trouble for others.

“We talked about the improvements from last year, the work on the flashing lane, the barrier on the car park, and about the sale of counterfeit good and how we can bring the market field back to  traditional field.”

Ms Cordon said MASCG is doing more community engagement and handed out 145 ‘community action group forms’ this year which people could fill out to give feedback.

Last year’s costings will be published ‘in the next couple of days’ on the fair website – applebyfair.org – but this year’s will take more time, she said.

On the delay, Ms Cordon said it’s due to local government reform and the merging of various accounts.

There’s no ETA on this year’s costs being published, but Ms Cordon said it’s ‘not months away’.

A report using ‘specialist advice’ will be commissioned to determine if it can become an organised event rather than a gathering, but Ms Cordon said: “It’s not just the council, a range of organisations could take this one, but what would they be taking on, and what statutory responsibilities would they be liable for?”

She said the gathering isn’t strictly defined, and there are few regular occurrences – horse washing and flashing – but there aren’t specific activities that could be regulated as large events like Kendal Calling or Taste Cumbria are.

Therefore, to make such an event organised would require ‘specialist work’, but it remains a popular and constant question, Ms Cordon added.

“It's impossible to answer just with the logistics of what would you be organising and what legislation would you apply,” she said, adding that there’s no timeline for when this will be completed, just a commitment.

“We all want the same thing - we all want a safe and enjoyable fair.”