Mela bosses angry over council's licence fee increase

ORGANISERS of the Edinburgh Mela Festival have hit out at the city council for more than doubling its fees for the event.

Festival organisers have been left reeling after being landed with an £8,420 bill for a temporary public entertainment licence – a 129 per cent increase on the fee proposed for last year.

The council has given the charity a grant worth about £80,000 towards the multicultural event, which takes place in Pilrig Park between 7 and 9 August, but is now planning to take 10 per cent of that back in fees.

All outdoor events, from the Beltane Fire Festival to tonight's Oasis concert, require temporary public entertainment licences.

Liam Sinclair, director of the Edinburgh Mela, said: "We deliver the festival as a charity, with all the money raised through festival activities being reinvested back into the festival itself.

"Over the past few years our licence has increased from a few hundred pounds to £3,500 last year, through to the proposed £8,000 this year.

"These are huge year-on-year increases for a charity to absorb and certainly not in line with inflationary increases."

Charges for this licence have rocketed over the last three years as a flat fee system was replaced by one which varies the licence fee depending on the size of events.

This has meant many operators have seen fees jump from £300 to £8,000, though a number of more charitable or community events, such as Beltane, have successfully reduced fees in recent months.

After public pressure, the city's licensing committee last year reduced the Mela's fee to £1,500 and charity bosses today appealed to them to consider a repeat.

The Mela's appearance at Friday's licensing committee will be followed by a similar plea from the organisers of the Altogether in the Park community event scheduled for Sighthill Park next month, which faces a £2,472 licence fee.

Councillor Gordon Buchan, the city's Tory culture spokesman, said: "I would encourage members of the licensing committee to look favourably on the appeal by the Mela organisers as this is a charitable event.

"The council can't do everything for free, but hopefully they can take a different approach for specific events, especially those of a charitable nature."

Organisers from Altogether in the Park – a free one-day event – claim their licence fee will hit them hard, saying this year's will cost them £1,620 more than last year and admitting they have failed to raise even half of the £20,000 needed to host the 18 July event.

The council's director of corporate services, Jim Inch, has recommended that requests to reduce the fees for both community events are rejected in light of the council's budget situation.

A request for a reduction to a £4,944 licence fee has also been received from organisers of The Gathering for a Scottish clans event taking place at Edinburgh Castle on 24 and 25 July.