Worthing Pride venue change due to ‘logistics of hosting an event on this scale’

The first Worthing Pride took place in 2018 and the annual event sees music and entertainment in celebration of the LGBTQI+ community.

Organisers are planning to hold the event at Worthing’s Steyne Gardens, rather than the usual venue at Beach House grounds this July – but first it needs permission from the council.

Originally, organisers wanted permission to sell alcohol between midday and half past midnight on Friday and Saturday and between 12pm and 10 pm on Sunday.

The event itself – including live music, entertainment, and dancing – would have run from midday until 1 am on Friday and Saturday and between midday and 11 pm on Sunday.

Around 25 objections were received to the plans, the majority of which were from Warnes residents who live directly next to Steyne Gardens.

The proposed event was only set to last three days, but residents expressed concerns over noise and music late at night, security, anti-social behaviour, and litter.

One objector said: “As we are sure [the licensing committee] will agree that three days of starting dancing and drinking at midday and finishing at 11 pm is a pretty good crack, I can tell you from previous experience at the Beach House grounds that, in spite of whatever regulation is applied, I can vouch that the music is very loud.”

The council’s senior environmental health officer said: “Steyne Gardens holds a number of events during the year, so the council must consider the cumulative effect rather than this event in isolation.”

In response, the organisers have agreed to shorten the event which will only run on Friday (July 8) and Saturday (July 9).

Alcohol will now only be sold from 6 pm to 10.30 pm on Friday and from midday until 10.30 pm on Saturday with music until 11 pm.

The event will come to an end by 11.30 pm on both days.

Four objections have been withdrawn since the changes were made and Sussex Police now have no objection to the venue change.

A comment from the force’s neighbourhood licensing team reads: “This event has each year been on the whole well run with a lot of input from the responsible authorities and safety advisory group.

“The event has been largely a family orientated event.”

However, due to the number of remaining objections, the application must go before Worthing Borough Council’s licensing and control committee on Wednesday (9 February).

Organisers said: “Worthing Pride is an event for the whole community and we want to make the event a safe and enjoyable space for all those who attend, as well as the residents and businesses surrounding.

“There is a slight misconception that we are looking to move from Beach House grounds to Steyne Gardens because we have outgrown the grounds, this is not the case as both sites hold the same agreed capacity of 5,000 guests.

“We are looking to move because the logistics of hosting an event on this scale is extremely difficult and the access is very restricted; we have to navigate large lorries around table tennis and picnic tables recently installed, which gave us great problems in 2021.”

Organisers said that in the event’s three-year history, they had ‘not received a single complaint’ from the community regarding noise or anti-social behaviour.

“Our full event management plan has been disclosed to the local authorities in preparation for our forthcoming safety advisory group meeting,” the organisers added.

“We have an excellent safety officer who has ensured the safe and smooth running of the event for the past three years.

“Worthing Pride goes to great lengths to ensure that we meet all our licensing objectives and protect the whole of the Worthing community – not just those in the LGBTQ+.”

Pride organisers added that extra security staff would patrol the surrounding areas before, during and after the event and a designated ‘community liaison officer’ would be available to hear any concerns from residents.