......."is there a covenant on field 1 of the camp site relating to its use by the festival? If it is not used next year will this be broken (if it exists) and will some developer manage to build houses on it?"

Reply to the above:

Covenants are usually restrictive and placed on land by an owner before he sells to prevent a new owner doing A, B or C (keeping a caravan, putting out washing, keeping pigs, etc), and are distinct from restrictions under planning legislation. Positive covenants (thou shalt do X or Y on pain of Z) are rare and generally unenforceable if applied to land - if you own the land you cannot generally be forced to do anything (but see the discussion on Section 215 of the T&CPA on my website for what councils can try to force you to do!). http://www.seered.co.uk/sec215.htm

I believe the field is owned by a man who lives in Bickwell Valley in Sidmouth - and I doubt he would get planning consent even if he applied for it. A covenant on land to prevent building usually has no influence on whether or not planning permission is granted - anyone with an interest can seek to enforce the covenant but it is not a part of planning - it is a civil matter to be pursued via the courts. Anyone can apply at any time for planning permission in respect of any piece of land - you don't have to own it, just pay the relevant fee to the Planning Dept. Of course, consent to build on land is not much use if you don't own it! Sometimes builders apply for permission then make the owner of the land an offer he cannot refuse.

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A more serious concern for the main campsite is the increasing emphasis on health and safety. Some years ago I highlighted to EDDC and the festival organisers the inherent danger of having old caravans with dubious brakes (and pitched by incompetent owners) on a slope above rows of tents. This would never be allowed on any 'official' or permanent campsite. I will load some of the material on my website in the next few weeks but for 2006 there may need to be a rethink of the layout and use of these fields.

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"Who (if anyone) actually 'owns' the title 'Sidmouth International Festival'?"

This point was raised at the June 2004 meeting in Sidmouth (see www.seered.co.uk/folk18.htm) but not answered conclusively. There is bound to be a list of registered names, products etc on the Internet or in a decent reference library.

I hope that helps for now.

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In reply to the last post:

In respect of news from EDDC, it has gone very quiet. There was a meeting last Wednesday involving Wren Trust et al (so I believe) but the public were not able to attend. Fair enough if it's confidential but it is now three months since the 14 June meeting in Sidmouth and no-one outside the the inner loop has heard anything.

Steve in Sidmouth
http://www.seered.co.uk