City centre event spaces policy

Our 3 event spaces have been carefully selected to provide opportunities in the highest footfall locations in the city.

This policy relates to the following spaces:

• Briggate
• City Square
• Cookridge Street

1. Event spaces policy

Spaces managed by City Centre Management will be available for advance booking for large scale events booked with a minimum 3 month notice period. Any notice given under 3 months will not receive approval.  

Only events which add to the vitality and vibrancy of the city centre will be approved. This is at City Centre Management’s discretion.

Use of spaces will normally be considered on a first come first serve basis, provided that the event abides by the spaces policy, priorities, and conditions of use. In certain circumstances, City Centre Management may initiate changes to the venue and/or conditions of use. Notification of this will be in writing and where possible an alternative venue will be sought. All such decisions will be final.

The specific area(s) available for the event will be determined by City Centre Management, in consultation with other relevant council departments.

At the discretion of the council, the prospective applicant may be asked to submit an environmental management statement, to describe how environmental impacts are to be avoided or minimised.

All events should comply with all relevant legislation and policy including health and safety, environmental health, and highways. 

The event organiser should provide all documentation required including, but not limited to, public liability insurance, event management plan, and risk assessments. The organiser must comply with Leeds City Council’s enforcement policy on litter arising from flyers.

It is the responsibility of the event organiser to provide all documentation within the timescales specified by City Centre Management prior to the start of an event. 

The event should not affect pedestrian flows, public safety, the general environment, or the interests of surrounding businesses, services, or residents. The event should not be of a nature that could cause offence to city centre users.

All Leeds City Council departments support a multi-agency approach when organising major events and activities in the city, for which separate organisational arrangements are in place. Further information is available from both City Centre Management and the Arts and Events team. 

All such issues must be agreed by relevant parties prior to a major event being sanctioned. A fee may be charged to the event organiser if a proposed event is deemed to be of a size or complexity that multi agency consultation is requited.

All events must comply with the requirements of the Police, other emergency services and other key multi-agency partners who assist with the coordination of the events in the city as appropriate.

All events must comply with the up-to-date list of Conditions of Use (see Appendix A).

A fee will be charged for all events. An invoice will be raised within 5 working days of the final day of the event following the issue of a letter of consent.

Previous use does not guarantee future permission of use of a city centre space.

City Centre Management reserves the right to refuse permission for any event to book city centre spaces. City Centre Management reserves the right to terminate any consent or stop any event in progress, should the applicant not conform to the original agreement and conditions, or if the activity differs from those outlined in the booking form. Any booking fee paid will not be returned in this circumstance. City Centre Management and Leeds City Council will not be liable for any other costs that may arise due to termination.

The use of our spaces for events which do not hold the necessary permissions will not be permitted, and the council has the authority to terminate these. In circumstances where it is found an unauthorised event takes place, the council reserve the right to immediately stop the event and charge a fee retrospectively for that event, together with appropriate costs.

Failure to provide documentation as requested by City Centre Management may result in the cancellation of an event.

2. Food and drink 

Only registered food businesses with a current hygiene rating of 4 or 5 will be permitted to operate from Leeds City Council Land. Up to date food safety documents must be provided where applicable, as stipulated by City Centre Management. 

3. Charging policy

A fee will be charged for all events.

City Centre Management reserves the right to charge additional fees at any time if additional staff time is spent on administration and monitoring of events. The event fee could be increased by up to three times the amount to cover these extra costs.

Additional fees can and will be charged should the council incur additional costs arising from the event for example cleansing. An appropriate retrospective charge will be levied to the consent holder along with any appropriate administration fees.

The council reserves the right to vary the fee charged.

4. Booking procedures

Requests to hold events in the spaces outlined should in the first instance be forwarded to City Centre Management by emailing city.centre.managem@leeds.gov.uk where their suitability will be assessed.

If the event is considered suitable a provisional booking will be made subject to final confirmation, with no commitment to reserve the space at this point.

City Centre Management will send the event organiser an enquiry form for the space, and any other relevant information, including an indication of the fee payable.

All relevant documentation must be completed and returned to City Centre Management within the required timescale (see 2), fully detailing the proposed event, with confirmation from the applicant that Conditions of Use will be adhered to. The form should be submitted with details of any necessary public liability insurance and other documentation confirming compliance with appropriate environmental health or other legislation.

Failure to return all relevant documentation by the required deadline will result in the provisionally booked space being made available to other organisations to utilise.

On receipt and consideration of the application form City Centre Management may consult with other multi-agency partners. You may also be required to consult with other multi-agency partners, which may include other council departments, the emergency services, the Health and Safety Executive, public transport, car park operators, and city centre businesses.

City Centre Management will initiate the raising of an appropriate invoice and issue the consent letter. Any other relevant parties will be advised as appropriate.

Event documentation listed in section 1 must be submitted on time and signed off by all parties concerned. Failure to return this documentation in time may result in cancellation of the booking.

Appendix A: Conditions of use for city centre event spaces

Event organisers booking a space managed by City Centre Management must take into consideration the conditions detailed below under the following headings:

• site protocol
• health and safety
• access and egress
• vehicles
• insurance
• cancellation
• leaflet distribution
• noise
• filming
• street collections
• public assemblies
• equal opportunities

Site protocol

1. The letter of consent granted by City Centre Management must be available for inspection by any officer of the council on the day/s in question.
2. Any display must be safe, tidy, attractive, and to the satisfaction of the council. Attaching or placing signs, banners, or other items on or to street furniture or the highway surface will not be permitted. Please submit copies of any display materials with the booking form.
3. The use of ‘A Boards’ is not permitted anywhere within the city centre.
4. If a consent holder is asked to move their location by the council, Police or Fire Service, they will immediately comply with that request.
5. The consent holder will be responsible for the reasonable cost of repair to the highway or street furniture if damage is caused by their event.
6. The consent holder will be responsible for the satisfactory behaviour of any employees or other people involved in the event who shall also comply with these conditions.
7. Petrol generators will not be allowed. Details of any other type of generator, such as silent diesel generators, must be submitted for approval by City Centre Management.
8. Activities will be positioned within the perimeter of the designated space to cause minimum disruption to pedestrian movement and no obstruction to shop frontages or city centre businesses.
9. The consent holder or their activities shall not cause any nuisance or annoyance to any other users of the event spaces, occupiers of adjacent land or building, or to Leeds City Council.
10. Litter generated because of any activity, including leaflets/samples/products, must be minimised during the event and removed from the event space and a 50m surrounding area both during and at the end of the activity. Failure by the consent holder to adhere to the above may result in a fixed penalty or abatement notice.
11. The consent holder must remove all waste from the site at the end of each day, which should be disposed of at a registered Trade Waste site and not in refuse bins adjacent to the event space. A fixed penalty notice will be issued if any litter is left behind.

Health and safety

1. All activities must meet all current Health and Safety legislation, for example all cables on site must be adequately covered or preferably positioned well above head height.
2. Necessary firefighting equipment must be provided and readily available.

Access and egress

1. Vehicle movement to and from any space must only take place within the hours permitted by the relevant Traffic Regulation Orders. These hours are normally 7pm to 10:30am within the pedestrian precinct. Exceptions apply when specific Police consent has been given, or the organiser has been instructed to move by the Police or council.
2. Some spaces require bollards to be removed to gain access to set up and hold events. City Centre Management must be aware of your proposed arrival and departure times to enable the bollards to be removed in a timely manner.

Vehicles

1. Vehicle users must comply with West Yorkshire Police advice, that states: “Whenever a vehicle is driven upon footway areas it should be guided by another person so as to inhibit excessive speed and prevent conflict with any pedestrians in the vicinity”. Their advice is given without prejudice and would not absolve any person from criminal or civil liability.
2. All vehicles must use drip trays to avoid oil marks on the paving. The hirer will pay for the removal of oil marks or fuel spillages caused by vehicles used as part of the set up or delivery of an event.
3. Vehicles used for towing or transporting units or equipment to a site must be removed from the site before the event commences. All trailers must be disconnected from the towing unit. The only vehicles allowed on site during the activity are those for which the application has been made for and express consent given, these must be branded vehicles which form part of the event.
4. Any vehicular movement on site must be taken with proper provision for public safety. No vehicle is to remain on the area outside the agreed time without permission. Staff associated with the activity are not permitted to park privately owned vehicles on the spaces.

Any cabling from an event vehicle must be sited in line with current Health and Safety legislation.

Insurance

1. The consent holder will indemnify the council against all actions, costs, claims and demands that may result from their use of the highway under the consent granted by the council.
2. The consent holder will take out public liability insurance in the sum of at least £10,000,000 with an insurance company who shall be approved by the council and will produce details of such insurance to the council.

Cancellation

1. Should an event be cancelled 2 weeks prior to the event start date, the full hire fee for the space will become payable. Should an event be cancelled at any point earlier in the process, City Centre Management reserves the right to charge an administration fee up to 50% of the full hire fee.
2. The council reserves the right to cancel or withdraw any consent, at any time prior to the date in question.
3. Consent holders may be required to curtail or cancel an event on the day in the circumstances of an emergency or other authorised legitimate access requirements for which no satisfactory alternative access arrangements can be made. Should this occur, the full hire fee will be payable in full, with a commitment to rearrange for an equivalent number of days at a mutually convenient point in the future.
4. In the event of Force Majeure, we will accept cancellation without the hire fee being payable under the following circumstances: earthquake, floods, fire, plague, pandemic and other natural disasters. This is not inclusive of severe weather conditions.
5. Where weather conditions result in the cancellation of an event, the full hire fee will be payable.
6. Where the event organiser does not abide by our event spaces policy, or the activity is not contained within the agreed space, City Centre Management reserve the right to stop the event whilst it is in progress. The full hire fee will be payable should this occur.

Leaflet distribution

1. The consent holder and all other event staff shall wait to be approached by members of the public when leafleting within the event space.
2. Where the event involves the distribution of printed material, such as leaflets, flyers, or any printed format, litter must be collected and removed within a 50 metre radius by the consent holder during and after the event. Any distribution of printed material must be restricted specifically within the booked event space. Failure to adhere to this may result in the consent holder being served with fixed penalty or abatement notices.
3. Leafleting shall only take place within the designated space with the written consent of City Centre Management.
4. Find further information on flyering in the city centre or to apply for a citywide flyering permit.

Noise

1. The consent holder will ensure that sound generated by their event is kept to a reasonable level and does not cause any noise nuisance to other businesses, residents or members of the public in the vicinity. If a complaint is received by the council, immediate corrective action must be taken.
2. The use of megaphones will not be permitted, unless specifically agreed with City Centre Management in advance.

Filming

1. When event spaces are booked for filming, all details of requirements for vehicles, cabling, lighting, tracking, props, and other equipment must be agreed in advance with City Centre Management, and strictly adhered to.

Street collections

1. Cash collections will only be allowed for charitable organisations. Please note where an event involves a street collection, consent must be gained prior to the return of the booking confirmation form.

Public assemblies

1. Spaces are not pre-bookable for public assemblies (this term includes demonstrations). It is best practice to liaise with West Yorkshire Police by calling 101.

Equal opportunities

1. The consent holder will comply with the council’s Equal Opportunities and Health and Safety policies. Contact City Centre Management if you would like a copy of these policies.

Political parties and religious organisations

1. Spaces are not pre-bookable for political parties.
2. This does not impede the right to freedom of speech. Contact City Centre Management if you have a query.