Following a public consultation on calculating their maintenance fee for the 2016/17 year, South Lakes Safari Zoo believed that fees incurred for legal advice should not be part of their costs of the maintenance fee.
As part of the consultation, South Lakes Safari Zoo, in Dalton, said: “Making the zoo pay for the cost of legal advice relating to issues with the zoo is outwith the permitted framework.”
However, Barrow Borough Council’s principal environmental health officer, Richard Garnett, said at the meeting yesterday: “Officers disagree with the zoo’s comment and are of the opinion that the cost of legal advice is within the remit of section 15 of the Zoo Licensing Act.”
Councillors unanimously accepted Mr Garnett’s recommendation to reject the zoo’s assertion and that the zoo’s maintenance fee for 2016/17 would be set at £11,487.
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