A review of traffic restrictions linked to Sidmouth Folk Week has been launched amid concerns that some measures may no longer meet legal requirements.
Devon County Council has written to Sidmouth Town Council seeking observations on the extent of road closures and parking suspensions imposed during the annual festival, and whether they should be scaled back in future.
In a letter to town clerk Christopher Holland, Richard Pryce, network manager (operations support) in the highways and traffic management group, said the current position was “no longer sustainable” and that a reassessment of the traffic order was proposed .
The correspondence follows a meeting with representatives including John Radford, Ewan Elsden, Cllrs John Louden and Denise Bickley on Monday, February 9, to discuss the annual traffic restrictions used across the town for Sidmouth Folk Week .
Mr Pryce said that while some restrictions involve limited timed road closures for parades and processions, “a significant part of the Traffic Order comprises parking restrictions” .
He wrote that these restrictions had “broadly grown over the years due to public representation” and now cover a variety of residential streets, “some a considerable distance from Sidmouth town itself” .
The reasons cited for the increase include facilitating traffic flow, preventing visitors parking in certain residential streets and tackling anti-social behaviour from people sleeping overnight in vehicles .
However, Mr Pryce said some parking restrictions during the festival “do not logically translate to being the responsibility of those managing the event”, noting that Sidmouth is naturally busy with tourists during the summer months .
He added that Sidmouth Folk Week attracts a number of “fringe events” with musicians and stalls appearing across the town, often promoted by local businesses. These are not under the auspices of the managed event but are sometimes perceived as part of it .
Mr Pryce said representations had been made that the inclusion of many parking restrictions outside the town were unnecessary to facilitate the event and, in some cases, “only act to appease some residents” .
He pointed out that, under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, event-related restrictions can only be used to:
- Facilitate the holding of an event
- Enable members of the public to watch an event
- Reduce the disruption to traffic likely to be caused by an event
“It is questionable that some existing parking restrictions adequately meet the requirements set in legislation,” he wrote .
The county council has proposed reviewing all parking restrictions within the current order to assess which meet the legal criteria, before beginning a process of “rationalising the Order in line with the set criteria” .
A copy of the detailed specifications used in the last Sidmouth Folk Week traffic order has been provided to the town council as part of the assessment .
According to the attached specification for 2025, road closures were scheduled between Thursday, July 31 and Saturday, August 9, with specific timed closures in Market Square and along the Esplanade for processions and events. Temporary one-way traffic was also implemented in parts of the town, alongside parking suspensions on a number of roads and a 20mph speed restriction on part of the B3176 .
Mr Pryce has asked for observations and feedback from Sidmouth Town Council by Friday, April 3, 2026
