Poppy Appeal motion at Chichester District Council following Petworth upset

A debate is to be held over whether or not Chichester District Council should charge groups collecting for the Poppy Appeal for the use of space in its car parks.

Roy Briscoe (Con, Westbourne) will table a motion at a meeting of the full council on Tuesday (November 18), calling for the likes of the Royal British Legion to be exempt from any charges when supporting the Appeal.

He raised the issue after learning that the council wanted £23.40 to allow military vehicles to use three large bays at the Pound Street car park, in Petworth, for three Sundays, while money was raised.

Nothing was charged in the end, as the organisers chose not to use the car park. But the question about whether they should be charged in the future remained.

Mr Briscoe said: “The council could say it’s about insurance, but we could waive that insurance. We could pick up the bill for that insurance if we needed to.

“It is down to our leadership to make that choice – it’s an informed choice.  So the motion that I’m bringing forward is all about [making] that choice. Not all charities are the same.”

The motion also calls for an urgent review of the council’s policy on the use of car parks and open spaces ‘to ensure this exemption is clearly stated, avoiding any future misunderstanding or repetition of this year’s regrettable situation in Petworth’.

And it asks the council to issue a statement reaffirming its support for the Royal British Legion, the Poppy Appeal, and the Armed Forces community, expressing gratitude to the volunteers who collect for the Appeal.

A council spokesman said: “Chichester District Council is deeply appreciative of the sacrifices this country’s personnel have made in the past and continue to make today and is fully supportive of the Poppy Appeal and its important work.

“The council has made £10,000 funding available to help parishes commemorate VE and VJ Day and is supporting memorial services across the district.

“We have also always provided space in our car park for fundraising efforts and remain committed to facilitating this.
“In this particular instance, the organisers decided not to use the space within the Pound Street car park this year because we unfortunately could not accommodate six large military vehicles. This was after we offered use of our large bays, which can accommodate three of their vehicles.

“The usual charges that event organisers would typically be expected to cover – such as signage, staff time, and licence preparation – were waived in this instance.

“However, we asked the organisers to pay a nominal contribution by covering the daily parking charge for a standard vehicle – which amounts to £2.60.

“This is in line with our hire of use of car parks for events and activities policy, which was approved in 2024 to ensure that all charities using our car parks are treated equally and fairly. As we do every year, we also offered additional space for poppy sales free of charge.

“We remain committed to working with the organisers to find practical solutions and we will always offer assistance wherever it is possible for us to do so.”