Conclusions
44. We consider that the task of overcoming the
problems which showpeople are currently experiencing with the
planning system would also be greatly assisted by the establishment
of a dedicated planning committee of the Guild, similar to that
which currently oversees health and safety matters. Such a committee
could undertake the tasks of compiling a census of current and
future needs for accommodation and of coordinating Guild input
into development plans referred to above. It could also assist
individual Guild members by giving advice and assistance in obtaining
planning permission for sites for travelling showpeople's accommodation.
45. Janet Montgomery, Ian Baseley and David Loveday,
all planning consultants, suggested to us that more regular updating
of the relevant planning circular, and more cross-referencing
to other planning guidance, would help to improve the situation
regarding obtaining planning permission for showpeople's depots.[69]
However, we do not accept the view that circulars have to be
re-issued by the Department of the Environment, Transport and
the Regions in order to re-enforce them, nor that cross-referencing
to other planning guidance is necessary. Far more important is
demonstrating how a well-run authority has interpreted and applied
the advice contained within the guidance. Either the Showmen's
Guild or those involved regularly with these planning issues should
consider publishing a good practice guide for the benefit of local
planning authorities. The Showmen's Guild should discuss with
the Local Government Association whether it would be appropriate
for such a guide to be produced as a joint publication between
the two organisations.
The Showmen's Guild of Great
Britain
46. On 5th August 1957, The Times referred
to the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain in these terms:
"As a professional body
and employee's trade union the showmen of Britain must rank as
one of the best governed and most co-operative in the country".
Although its power seems today to be considerably reduced, we
were impressed during our inquiry with what the Guild could achieve,
and with how effective some of its regional sections were. However,
we were also concerned that the Guild was not as effective in
some areas as it might be.
47. Some of the problems which the Guild and its
regional sections experience stem from the multiple roles which
it has to perform. It acts as an entrepreneur negotiating and
running a large number of fairs; it acts as a benevolent society,
a trade union, and a trade association. At times these different
activities are not always compatible. For instance, they may have
been the entrepreneurs for a traditional charter fair, while relatively
close by a member is negotiating, with difficulty, for a private
venue. Similarly, they may be trying to acquire or promote for
a member an accommodation site which may be in competition with
a site rented out by another member. One has also to question
how far the Showmen's Guild ought to be seeking new sites for
major fairs and carrying the financial risks associated with it,
and how far it should be leaving this kind of business to one
or more of its individual members acting as entrepreneurs. The
travelling funfair industry is immensely valuable in economic,
social and historical terms. The Showmen's Guild of Great Britain
has played a key role in ensuring that this is so. Nevertheless,
the industry, and those who work in it, continue to face problems.
Showpeople ought to think long and hard as to how they can maintain
and improve the effectiveness of the Guild, and thereby contribute
much more to solving those problems. We also hope that the Guild
will act on all the suggestions we make in this Report, and so
facilitate greater understanding of their business and way of
life at local and regional levels and dispel the prejudice and
ignorance which in so many cases prevents travelling showpeople
from taking their proper place in modern society.
8 Written evidence can be found in volume HC284-II,
published earlier this session; oral evidence and further written
evidence can be found in volume HC 284-III, published with this
Report. Back
9 Annex Back
10 Ev
vol II p.1 Back
11 ibid Back
12 Ev
vol II p.18 Back
13 See
ev vol II pp.42-43. Back
14 Ev
vol II p.43. A fuller account of the history of travelling fairs
can be found in The English Fair, by David Kerr Cameron,
Sutton Press, Stroud, 1998; Travelling Fairs, by
David Braithwaite, Shire Publications Ltd, Aylesbury, 1976; or
on the webpages of the National Fairground Archive, http://www.shef.ac.uk/uni/projects/nfa.
Back
15 Annex Back
16 Ev
vol II pp.34-38 Back
17 Ev
vol III pp.50-51 Back
18 Ev
vol II p.60 Back
19 TF
42 Back
20 Q250 Back
21 Q6;
ev vol II pp.11, 29, 30. Back
22 Ev
vol II p.9. See also pp.6-7. Back
23 Ev
vol II pp.23-24 Back
24 Ev
vol II p.60 Back
25 Ev
vol III p.45 Back
26 Ev
vol II pp.31-34; QQ225, 226 Back
27 Annex Back
28 ibid Back
29 Ev
vol II pp.33-34 Back
30 Annex Back
31 Ev
vol II pp.3, 4, 6, 11, 16, 20-21, 24-25, 26, 39, 43, 44, 48 &c. Back
32 This
visit was undertaken as a part of the Committee's inquiry into
the Urban White Paper; we expect to publish the Report
of this inquiry shortly. Back
33 Ev
vol II p.11 Back
34 Ev
vol II pp.7, 15, 18, 26, 43, 47, 53, &c. Back
35 Ev
vol II pp.1, 3, 4, 9, 11, 21, 24, 26, 29, 48 &c. Back
36 Metropolitan
Fairs Act 1868, Fairs Act 1871 and Fairs Act 1873. Back
37 QQ353-354 Back
38 Q14 Back
39 Ev
vol II pp.48-51 Back
40 Ev
vol II p.50 Back
41 Annex Back
42 ibid Back
43 ibid Back
44 QQ54,
110-115 Back
45 Ev
vol II pp.2, 15, 16, 19, 22, 26, 40, 54, 56; QQ241, 247-248. Back
46 Ev
vol II pp.54-55 Back
47 Ev
vol II p.50 Back
48 Ev
vol II p.7 Back
49 Ev
vol II p.46 Back
50 Ev
vol II p.7; Q259 Back
51 Joint
Circular from the Department of the Environment and the Welsh
Office, Travelling Showpeople, 1991, (Circular 22/91 (Department
of the Environment); Circular 78/91 (Welsh Office)) Back
52 Ev
vol II p.13 Back
53 Ev
vol II p.56 Back
54 Ev
vol II pp.1, 2, 4, 5, 12, 14, 15, 16-17, 19, 22, 23, 25, 27-28,
41, 54, 56-58; QQ48, 51, 241-243, 245-248, 255-257, 288-290, 320;
&c. Back
55 Ev
vol III p.43 Back
56 Q53 Back
57 See
also ev vol II pp.23, 27. Back
58 Q58 Back
59 Ev
vol II p.27 Back
60 Ev
not printed (John Groom) Back
61 Ev
vol II p.5. See also ev vol III pp.65-66. Back
62 Ev
vol III p.68 Back
63 op
cit, para 4 Back
64 ibid,
para 8 Back
65 See
Annex Back
66 Ev
vol II pp.2, 4, 9, 12, 16, 19-20, 41; QQ45, 47, 234, 249, 290-291 Back
67 Travelling
Showpeople's Sites - A Planning Focus: Model Standard Package,
available from the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain; see Annex. Back
68 ibid.
See also Q282 Back
69 Ev
vol II pp.28, 59; QQ300, 301 Back