Bonfires and barbecues on Jesus Green

The JGA has put up a notice about barbecues on the green in the summer - it is illegal but many people don't know this or simply know that no action will taken against them

Just to clarify it is against the bylaws that were constituted when the green was made a common in 1985.

Anyway a meeting regarding Midsummer Common in April touched upon these issues

Here is a quick synopsis:

The main focus was the problem of illegal fires on Midsummer Common where this is clearly a major problem (people pinch pallets and other rubbish from building sites to
build large bonfires) but damage to grass on Jesus Green by instant
barbecues was also mentioned.

It is in fact illegal to light a fire of any sort on common land and that includes the instant barbecues of the sort sold by the supermarkets and widely used on Jesus Green. The police appear to be unaware of the law and have been telling people who ask that they may light fires. (see List of Tasks one of which is to educate the police!)

Cllrs Julie Smith and Tim Bick both raised the very sensible question of
whether it might be possible to find way for people to continue to have
barbecues on Jesus Green without damaging the grass (and without falling
foul of the law).

Pleas made for larger and more rubbish bins on Jesus Green.