Hylands Park could host wrestling and boxing events under council plan
Hylands Park - Credit: Google Earth
Hylands Park could host wrestling and boxing matches in future under plans drawn up by Chelmsford City Council.
Hylands Estate, which currently has four different events licenses, wants to amalgamate them into one single permit which could accommodate indoor and outdoor boxing, wrestling or sports events.
The city council says the inclusion of sports events would give the estate "more flexibility in the future".
These changes would only apply to events run by the estate itself.
Large events at Hylands run by independent organisers, such as the upcoming Creamfields festival scheduled for June 2022, would still need their own licenses.
Plays and other events which can already take place in the park are an important source of income for the council.
A spokesperson for Chelmsford City Council said: "Hylands Estate and the purpose of this application is to streamline and amalgamate everything into a single license.
"From a licensing perspective, it makes sense to have one license - it saves money on administration fees and it means there is one contact and one license holder.
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"At present, the current licenses the estate holds are tightly drawn around Hylands House and The Stables.
"The new plans would extend the licensable area into Hylands Park.
"To give you an example of why this is needed - under current licenses, outdoor events put on by the estate such as the Christmas light trail Enlightened can only serve alcohol at The Stables at the far end of the trail, and not at the start near the Writtle car park.
"To do this, the estate must apply for a Temporary Event Notice, but a new license with an extended area would mean this isn't necessary."
They added: "The inclusion of sports events is one such addition and including this should give the estate more flexibility in the future."
Cultural attractions in Chelmsford, including the park, are recovering from the financial impacts of the pandemic.
Chelmsford City Council introduced new parking fees at Hylands earlier this month.
The council needs to make up £2 million in total to balance its budget after the pandemic.
