Council to levy charges on major events in the Highlands

Organisers of commercial large scale outdoor events will be charged in the future for the use of Highland Council-owned land or Council facilities.

A decision was made by members of The Highland Council’s Education, Culture and Sport Committee to introduce a base charge of £15,000 for the use of Council land or facilities for events with attendance of up to 9,000; and to charge event organisers £2 per person for tickets sold in excess of 9,000.

The non-refundable charges which do not affect Council-run events or existing charges to community event organisers will be implemented in staged payments including: a 20% booking fee; 50% of the base fee two months prior to the event and the full base bee one month before the event.

Councillor Bill Fernie, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Education, Culture and Sport Committee said: “We are pleased to see that the Highland area is now being seen as a destination for major events with annual dates such as RockNess and Belladrum. These and other major acts such as Elton John, Rod Stewart and soon at Dingwall, JLS and Olly Murs all generate significant economic impact and a feelgood factor within the communities where they perform.

“Although infrequent to date there has been an increased rate of interest in staging major events on Council-owned land - mainly in Inverness. Two bookings have already been received for the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness this summer for Simple Minds / Big Country and Boyzone.”