Blackweir Live: exposing the Jekyll & Hyde in Welsh planning regulations?

Jeremy Sparkes

No pun intended but we all expect there to be a level playing field when it comes to planning – that everyone will be treated in an identical and fair way according to the law and allied regulations; and that Welsh local authorities responsible for planning oversight will ensure appropriate action is taken for any breach or anyone trying to circumvent due process.

But what happens if there is concern about planning and it involves the local authority? How can it police itself?

Bute Park in Cardiff is to be used to stage Blackweir Live, a series of gig events in the height of summer and in which Cardiff Council has a financial stake through a two-year contract with the private event organisers/promoters. This creates a huge conflict of interest for the Council as it has stated that this will be a major contributor to filling its budget gap for the next 2 years, so it is valid to question whether it is possible for councillors in its Cabinet and for its Officers to attempt to manage planning regulations in a fair way in the eyes of the public?

I believe this is the question that must now be answered by the Welsh Government in respect of Cardiff Council’s change of use of a Grade 1 Listed Park – Bute Park.

High Court ruling

Previously, the provision of a temporary change of use for 28 days in any calendar year could be relied upon but a High Court ruling on Brockwell Park last month established the basis for calculating when the 28 days started and finished. Mr Justice Mould ruled that the 28 day permission granted by the Council to the festival organiser was unlawful because the change of use starts on the 1st day that normal access/use is prevented and ends only once normal use/access is restored.

Cardiff Council stopped use of the Blackweir sports pitches after games on the weekend of 6/7 June 2025, wagons started rolling in and 3m high fencing was erected in the following days such that by 12 June a vast area could not be used by residents, visitors or sports teams. The Council has stated that normal use by the public would resume from 21 July 2025 and this is clearly well beyond 28 days. If it wishes to rely on the 28 day provision then it must return Blackweir to full public use on or before 9 July. However, it is allowing a gig to take place on the evening of 9 July so it is clear that it wilfully intends to be in breach of the 28 day permitted provision.

Lambeth Council decided that in order to ensure a lawful basis for its festival on Brockwell Park it needed planning permission for change of use, and it submitted a relevant application.

Precedent

So it’s reasonable to assume that Cardiff Council would understand the case precedent and do the same to ensure the same lawful basis for Blackweir Live; except that it hasn’t. There is a degree of discretion allowed to a planning authority in such matters but that is usually only for small scale changes that have minimal or no impact, and attract widespread support from the community affected by them.

Indeed, just this week (24/06/2025) in the plenary session of Senedd MS Joel James raised community concerns about the increasing loss of access to public open space for private companies to run profit-making events. In reply, Trefnydd [Jane Hutt] made clear the following: “So, it is very important that local authorities are mindful of the impact and, of course, that they have the responsibilities and the regulations to guide them on these matters.”

However, Cardiff Council has not submitted a planning application for its change of use of large areas of Bute Park that are far in excess of the 28 days temporary change provision.

So what can the community do in this situation where the gamekeeper turns poacher? And should it really fall to us to have to challenge it, especially when it costs the best of £50k to bring such a legal action? Meanwhile the Council can use our money – our taxes – to pay its legal costs, it doesn’t fall on the Council Leader.

I believe this is exactly the situation envisaged in planning law and is confirmed in the Welsh Government’s Development Management Manual which sets out its reserve powers:

“LPAs [Local Planning Authorities] are primarily responsible for planning enforcement within their areas. However, the Welsh Ministers hold reserve powers in this regard, allowing them to issue enforcement notices and breach of condition notices following consultation with the relevant LPA. Such a step would override the planning authority’s decision on an issue that falls under its responsibility and would be justified solely in exceptional cases, such as when there is a significant failure or dysfunction within an LPA and failure to intervene could harm the broader public interest if left unaddressed.”

Champion trees

Bute Park is a Grade 1 Listed Park with over 2m visits in 2024, it has more champion trees than any other municipal park in the whole of Britain and its arboretum now contains over 3,000 individually catalogued specimens – although several of trees in the Blackweir area of the Park have been felled to make way for the gigs – and the Council as the Local planning Authority has a huge conflict of interest between being responsible for the preservation and protection of this beautiful green space against its oft-stated desire to leverage the Park for financial gain.

So the provision to intervene is there and the criteria are met: there is a clear case for Welsh Ministers to exercise their reserve powers to ensure all factors can be openly and fairly assessed to decide whether the change of use of Bute Park is in the Park’s best interests.

Over to you, Welsh Ministers, please now step up the plate.

Jeremy Sparkes is a Cardiff resident & campaigner to keep public space public