Open day at new wedding venue cancelled over virus rules
An open day at a new outdoor wedding venue in Staffordshire has had to be cancelled – after it was deemed to contradict current coronavirus legislation.
The event at The Venue at Little Hay, near Lichfield, which was being co-organised by The Venue Portfolio and Elite Tents, was due to take place on the six-acre site today and Monday.
Despite weeks of planning with both companies checking requirements on the Government website and completing risk assessments – including limiting attendance to appointment only and those visiting could only do so in groups of five or less – it has had to be cancelled.
A call from the environmental health department at Lichfield City Council earlier this week declared that the event was not a 'permitted activity' and could not go ahead.
Alice Higgins, managing director of The Venue Portfolio, which manages the site, said: “We are devastated and cannot understand the logic behind the legislation.
"When you see images of crowded parks earlier this week, we believed we had done all that was necessary to make sure that it was a safe and compliant event.
"It has been such a difficult year for the wedding and events industry which is largely made up of small independent businesses and we really just wanted to try to be prepared for bookings when larger weddings and receptions are allowed again.
“As the event did not require a temporary events notice, we did not originally contact the council as we presumed that enforcement of the restrictions was a police matter, not one for environmental health. We even had a visit to the site from a PCSO earlier this week as we were starting to set up who was impressed with the measures, we had taken.
“We will certainly ensure that we will open dialogue with the council for all future events as early as possible”.
The open day has now been rescheduled for Saturday, April 17, and Sunday, April 18, subject to stage two of the Government roadmap starting on April 12, and full council permissions being granted.
Anyone who is interested in finding out more can visit the Facebook pages of The Venue at Little Hay or Elite Tents or email alice@venueportfolio.co.uk
