Covering Letter to The Application

The  

Rotary  

Club  

of  

Royston  

are  

applying  

for  

Section  

38  

Approval  

for  

a  

Kite  

Festival  

to  

be  

held  

on  

Therfield  

Heath,

Royston  

on  

Sunday  

4th  

August  

2024.  

Section  

38  

approvals  

involve  

a  

public  

consultation  

in  

which  

members  

of  

the

public  

and  

various  

organisations  

are  

invited  

to  

comment  

on  

the  

application.  

People  

are  

free  

to  

raise  

objections  

or

express support.

We  

(the  

Rotary  

Club)  

believe  

our  

Kite  

Festival  

is  

a  

very  

popular  

community  

event  

which  

raises  

money  

for  

charity.  

We

recognise  

that  

the  

event  

has  

an  

impact  

on  

the  

Heath,  

and  

you  

may  

have  

concerns  

about  

that  

impact.  

If  

our  

Section  

38

application  

doesn’t  

address  

your  

concerns,  

you  

are  

free  

to  

raise  

an  

objection  

as  

part  

of  

the  

consultation  

process.

However,  

if  

you  

believe,  

as  

we  

do,  

that  

the  

Kite  

Festival  

is  

a  

long-standing  

and  

significant  

community  

event  

that

should not be banned, we urge you to support our application.

A  

full  

copy  

of  

our  

Section  

38  

Application  

is  

attached  

but  

in  

summary,  

we  

are  

applying  

to  

hold  

a  

Kite  

Festival  

on  

the

Heath  

next  

year.  

This  

will  

be  

30th  

Kite  

Festival  

to  

be  

held  

on  

the  

Heath.  

The  

very  

first  

was  

held  

in  

August  

1991  

–  

over

30  

years  

ago  

–  

and  

it  

has  

been  

held  

on  

the  

first  

Sunday  

in  

August  

every  

year  

(apart  

from  

Covid)  

since  

then.  

The  

Kite

Festival  

is  

a  

not-for-profit  

event  

which  

has  

raised  

over  

£100,000  

for  

mostly  

local  

charities.  

The  

Kite  

Festival  

is  

also  

a

community  

event.  

For  

the  

people  

of  

Royston,  

it’s  

a  

cheap  

day  

out  

in  

the  

fresh  

air  

(children  

are  

free  

and,  

last  

year,

adults   

only   

paid   

£4).   

For   

local   

community   

organisations   

(e.g.,   

the   

Scouts,   

The   

Friends   

of   

Royston   

Heath,   

The

Conservators,  

the  

Police,  

The  

Fire  

Brigade  

etc.  

etc)  

it  

offers  

an  

opportunity  

to  

engage  

with  

the  

public.  

And  

finally,  

it

also helps some local business men and women to make a living.

Our  

application  

is  

to  

hold  

the  

event  

on  

Sunday  

4th  

August  

2024  

on  

its  

traditional  

site  

(see  

the  

maps  

in  

the  

Section  

38

Application).  

Marquees  

may  

be  

erected  

a  

day  

or  

two  

before  

the  

event  

and  

a  

skip  

for  

rubbish  

and  

portable  

toilets  

may

also  

be  

delivered  

before  

the  

event.  

The  

site  

will  

be  

completely  

clear  

by  

the  

end  

of  

the  

day  

on  

Sunday  

4th  

August  

apart

from the skip and the portable toilets which may remain on site until following day.

The  

area  

used  

for  

the  

arena  

is  

a  

Site  

of  

Special  

Scientific  

Interest  

-  

and  

has  

been  

for  

as  

long  

as  

the  

event  

has  

been

running.  

We  

do  

not  

believe  

that  

the  

Kite  

Festival  

damages  

this  

area,  

but  

we  

recognise  

that  

it  

does  

have  

an  

impact  

on

the  

plant  

and  

animal  

life  

of  

this  

very  

small  

part  

(approx.  

1%)  

of  

the  

Heath.  

Natural  

England  

–  

the  

organisation  

that

oversees  

areas  

of  

SSSI  

will  

be  

consulted  

as  

part  

of  

the  

Section  

38  

process.  

The  

Nature  

Conservancy  

Council  

(the

predecessor to Natural England) sponsored the first Kite Festival in 1991.

The  

Kite  

Festival  

also  

involves  

creating  

a  

temporary  

Car  

Park  

on  

the  

Heath.  

We  

have  

explored  

the  

possibility  

of

holding  

the  

event  

without  

a  

car  

park  

(we  

believe  

this  

would  

cause  

a  

nuisance  

to  

local  

residence  

and  

mayencourage

families  

with  

children  

to  

cross  

a  

busy  

road).  

And  

we  

have  

also  

looked  

at  

creating  

a  

car  

park  

elsewhere  

on  

the  

Heath  

or

in the town but without success.

• The Application Form • The Accompanying maps