£10,000 to investigate tickets for Appleby Horse Fair

A budget of just under £10,000 has been made available for the consultants appointed to advise on the organization and possible ticketing of Appleby Horse Fair.

A meeting of Kirkby Stephen Town Council was told there had been a delay in appointing consultants, owing to a “difficulty of finding consultants willing to respond”.

But a spokesman for Eden Council confirmed that consultants had been appointed to review the organization of the horse fair and will start work in the next two weeks.

The spokesman added: “The coronation of Charles III is set to take place on Saturday, May 6, 2023, meaning that there will be no clash with the traditional early June dates of the Appleby Horse Fair.”

Town, district and county councilor Phil Dew told town councilors that plans to ensure the continuity of the multi-agency group oversight of the fair — which attracts tens of thousands of visitors — through local government reorganization were in place, with the role of chairman being written into the job description of a soon to be appointed Westmorland & Furness council director or assistant director.

He said there would be three elected councilors nominated to the multi-agency co-ordinating group and no change in police command and structure.