The local authority says it is planning to adopt a new licence for circuses and fun fairs held on council land and property, in a bid to prevent damage and cover costs.
A travelling fair was housed in Horse Fair Paddock during the 1960s and 1970s, making one or two visits a year and perhaps staying for a week at a time.
Later locations included the old lorry wash, where the new Lidl store is today, and the town's main car park.
The latter was a very central spot and easy to get to on foot but created obvious difficulties by taking up spaces needed by shoppers' vehicles.
It has now been some years since the fair came to town. So much so that we are beginning to wonder whether we shall see one again.
Sadly, we can't think of a suitable spot for a travelling fun fair - assuming one would like to pay Brigg a visit. Perhaps the land near the railway station might have done but the council now has plans to redevelop this for housing.
Remember that, in the 13th century, Brigg was granted a charter for a market and a fair.
Old traditions die hard, they say.
P.S. We can vaguely remember in the early 1960s being taken to Brigg Recreation Ground to watch a circus.
FROM NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE COUNCIL
North Lincolnshire Council is planning to adopt a new licence for circuses and fun fairs held on council land and property in a bid to prevent damage and cover costs.
The council says it has reviewed its arrangements for circuses and fun fairs following issues with a travelling circus on Everest Road, Scunthorpe, in February 2016.
Unlike previous events, this circus resulted in a number of complaints to the council from local residents for a range of reasons.
A condition attached to the licence consent for the use of council land and property is that ‘the field must be left in the same condition as you found it, with no litter. Any damage to trees, turf or any other aspect of the park should be rectified by yourselves if caused during the event.’
The new licence will make it clearer to the operators of circuses and fun fairs the standards required by the council to temporarily use council land and property.
A £250 a day hire fee payment is being proposed under the new arrangements. In addition to the daily payment, a bond of £2,500 will be required from the operators to make sure that money is available to the council to deal with any cleaning up of the sites, should they fail to meet their obligations under the licence.
Coun John Briggs, Cabinet Member for Commercial Enterprise, said: “Circuses and fun fairs that come to North Lincolnshire usually pass without problems and rarely give us any reason for concern. Unfortunately, on this one occasion many problems were caused and we want to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future.
“The new licence will provide greater clarity on what is expected of those bringing circuses and fun fairs to North Lincolnshire and cover any associated costs after they have left. We cannot expect local taxpayers' money to subsidise businesses when problems occur.
“There are a number of locally based circuses and fun fairs that have held events in North Lincolnshire for many years and have never caused any issues or damaged council land and property. For these operators we would look at the licence request on its own merit and consider waiving the bond payment - if we think it is appropriate.”
