First off, if this is considered off topic then I apologise, but it does relate to a TMA site and I think some here will be interested:
For the last 5 years the Anderida Gorsedd has been meeting at the Long Man
of Wilmington, here in Sunny Sussex, to celebrate the festivals of the Wheel
of the Year, then retiring to the very lovely, and Pagan-friendly. Giant's
Rest pub in Wilmington.
A couple of months ago Damh the Bard and Cerri Lee, who have been running
the rituals, were informed that residents on the village of Wilmington had
complained about the number of cars parking in the village on ritual days.
These concerns seemed fair enough and the members of the Gorsedd have been
asked to ensure that they park considerately, ensuring that access is
maintained, even though it is just as likely to be other members of the
public's parking that is causing any problems that have cropped up.
The field on which we run the rituals is leased to Wealden District-Council
by a private owner. We are told that the owner has received complaints about us leaving litter on the site, as well as lighting fires. there have also been drums and horns disturbing the peace, as well as, horror of all horrors, blatant acts of
Morris-dancing committed openly and shamelessly. The council will not tell Damh or Cerri who the actual owners actually are, so that we are having our points to them filtered through the Council. Obviously we will do a Land Registry search, but why
should this be necessary?
Don't get me wrong. The original point about parking was an entirely valid
one, but the Council are now saying that so long as we have our rituals back
up at the foot of the Long Man, the parking is not an issue as it occurs on
public roads and in a public car-park. The only issue is that we must not
hold our rituals on the field next to the car-park. In other words at the
place where they have become popular, due to easy access for those with
limited mobility and/or children.
Here I feel the need to mentioned Article 9 of the Human Rights Act 1998,
which deal with freedom to "change his religion or belief and freedom,
either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to
manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and
observance."
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980042.htm
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/80042--d.htm#sch1
Wealden District Council , as a public body, can breach this Act, but a private land-owner cannot. BUT, can a public-body accept a land-lease which
contains conditions that allow them to breach convention rights ON BEHALF of
the owner from which they lease it?
For all we know the land-owner may turn out to be entirely reasonable, given the chance to meet with us and see how utterly well-intentioned we are in our use of the land. Meanwhile we are left facing a serious threat to something that has come to
mean a lot to many people. On the occasions when members of the public have
been present on the field when we have tuned up we have had nothing but
positive comments about how they feel they have been in the right place at
the right time.
What a damn shame this all is, and what a far cry from the glorious day,
last summer, when members of the Gorsedd were given permission by the Sussex
Archaeological Society to repaint the Long Man:
http://www.bardicarts.com/anderidagorsedd/longmanpage.htm
We do have allies in the local community, and good ones at that. We are
prepared to press our point and not to let officialdom join forces with the
narrow-minded in order to deny us of our right to manifest our beliefs
"either alone or in community with others and in public or private". But we
could do with your thoughts at this time.
LINKS:
http://www.bardicarts.com/anderidagorsedd/announcements.html
http://www.wealden.co.uk/
