The only licensed area for street trading in Seven Dials is the market in Earlham Street (West). This market is in need of refurbishment and re-equipment to reinvigorate it and make it complement the offer of shopkeepers.
Street entertainment, promotions and pop-up events
Parts of the area have been noted as places where pop-up events or installations might occur, which may include street entertainment. In addition, temporary commercial promotional activity is occasionally licensed by the local authority as it is a source of revenue.
The Trust (together with the CGCA) expects to work with those managing events and licenses to steer if necessary the activity, timing or equipment to seek the least adverse effect on movement, character and community safety and residential amenity.
To make the events special, they should be limited in duration and organised with proper and full consultation.
The following local authority websites deal with on-street events and provide contact details for anyone planning an event in the Seven Dials area.
Holding an Event in Westminster
Festive Decorations
Many West End neighbourhoods, including the famous shopping streets, have decorations and specific lighting during festivities and national celebrations. Such decorations often cover a wide area. They are treated as advertisements in the application for installation process and are not subject to comment by local stakeholders.
Given the overall impact such decorations can have on the Study Area, the Trust considers it desirable that promoters and the local authority engage at an early stage in planning so that this use of the public realm is open to stakeholder comment.
For the Christmas period, the Trust will not expect decorations to be erected before mid -November and the display should be lit only between 1st December and 6th January. Other festivals can be celebrated but in a timely fashion. Bunting and decorations, for example, fairy lights in trees, in place for long periods of time throughout the year transform the area into a theme park and are inappropriate in these important conservation areas.
