Pressure is being applied to Biggleswade Town Council to reconsider its flag flying policy to enable the Progress Pride flag to be flown at an event next month.

An updated council flag policy was agreed last month removing references to category ‘c’ flags, including the Pride flag, which require planning permission.

The revised version includes current central government prescribed practice, said a report to a town council meeting.

It would cost £60 for time spent by Central Bedfordshire Council’s planning expert offering advice, about £100 to submit a planning application and the cost of the flag, which is on average £60 to £80.

File photo of a Progress Pride Flag (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

placeholder image — File photo of a Progress Pride Flag (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

But representatives of Biggleswade LGBTQ+ group called on BTC to rescind changes made to its flag policy, and want the Progress Pride flag to be bought with capital reserves and flown during Biggleswade LGBTQ+ Pride.

It was suggested at the local authority’s annual assembly the flag would be raised on Saturday, June 28 and flown throughout that weekend, and in subsequent years to mark Pride month.

BTC was asked to use some money from the UK shared prosperity fund (UKSPF) to support the event and buy bunting to distribute to local shops wishing to show support for Biggleswade Pride.

Town mayor Mark Foster referred to a number of the elements of the request having been addressed by the council “quite recently”, saying: “But it’s quite right the motion is put here.

“My concern is there are so many elements, some might be supported by the members and some won’t be. It’s a challenging motion. Bearing in mind the council has been very clear on its flag policy, that might be a challenge for us.

“I don’t want to be where we’ve been before when we dilute something and not support it where we could.”

Town clerk Peter Tarrant explained: “The audience today can come to a conclusion on the generalistic elements connected to that.

“If we can work with you separate from the conversation today, we can capture all that information. This is required to go to next town council meeting anyway, according to the process.

“We can see it clearly at that stage, so members can come to a view. This audience can come to a sense of whether they’re broadly in support of it, but the binding vote has to be taken by council as a separate entity.”

Earlier the assembly was asked, after the Supreme Court ruling, what the town council is doing to make the LGBTQ+ community feel safe locally.

Town councillor Madeline Russell suggested: “One of the things we can do is ask Bedfordshire Police each time they visit whether there’ve been any incidents, as a result of the recent (Supreme Court) decision.

“We want to keep everyone safe, including the LGBTQ+ community. So we can ask questions about that and it then comes to council.

Councillor Jonathan Woodhead added: “The town council is very supportive of Pride within Biggleswade and I hope that message has got through.

“It was a clear position of the council and I hope people feel reassured about that.”