Bedford Winter Wonderland event held without planning permission for second year

The event, which included an ice rink, was set up in Bedford Park

A council has been criticised for allowing a major event to be held without planning permission for the second year in a row.

The company behind Bedford Winter Wonderland, twice submitted an application days before it opened.

The first application was withdrawn after the event finished, without a decision being made by the council.

Labour councillor Zara Layne said it was "clear" that improvements were needed for big ticket events.

At a Bedford Borough Council meeting on Wednesday, Ms Layne asked when permission was actually going to be granted for the second application and said: "Would the mayor agree that allowing such a high-profile event such as this to take place for the second time without relevant permissions actually makes a mockery of the system?"

She said the processes "didn't work" and explained that residents had spent time and invested energy commenting on the application and their comments should "feed into actual decisions, not into reflection afterwards".

The Conservative portfolio holder for town centres and planning, councillor Andrea Spice explained that one of the professional bodies involved in the application had not responded and that the council was "trying to fix the process to make sure that it is compliant".

The Conservative Mayor of Bedford, Tom Wootton added: "We will be reviewing where Winter Wonderland goes next [time] and what we should do. 

"We will endeavour to learn from this and get back to you with answers."