It was supposed to be a harmless interview with a pop star on Brighton’s pebbly beach about the sounds of Britain’s shores, but the only noise the city council wanted to hear was the rustle of notes changing hands.



The city on England’s south coast has a reputation for permissiveness and a liberal, laid-back, independent attitude (it is home to the UK’s first elected Green MP), but it appears to have taken an uncharacteristically hardline approach into what you can and can’t do for free on its beaches and environs. For anyone wanting take pictures or carry out a Q&A on its beach, the city council has decreed that there is a £200 fee. And if the interview is moved off the beach on to the promenade or a street corner? Still £200.



Civil liberty campaigners and champions of a free press have expressed bemusement after Brighton & Hove city council tried to charge the fee for working on its beach or other parts of the city. Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, has investigated and expressed her concern. Index on Censorship is among the organisations that said the move ran counter to the right to freedom of expression.



The situation came to light when the Guardian informed Brighton & Hove city council that it was planning to interview the musician Martyn Ware, a founder member of the Human League and Heaven 17, on the local authority-owned beach about a music project he was undertaking with the National Trust and the British Library. The council’s press office passed the matter on to the city’s events office. An official there said it would charge £200 for a licence allowing the interview to be recorded and Ware to be photographed next to the water.



The official said in an email: “This is a chargeable activity. We would charge £200 for audio recording and photographs. If you wish to go ahead with this booking, please let me know and I will get you the consent form.”



When the Guardian expressed surprise that the council’s policy was to charge for newsgathering, the official replied: “News to us is ‘current affairs’, and we define current affairs as something that is spontaneous, such as filming for the weather programme. Your proposal is a planned article, and is therefore is a chargeable activity. I hope that this answers your question.”



The official added that the beach stretched to Rottingdean around four miles to the east of Brighton city centre, and Portslade, three miles west. When he was asked if there were any restrictions in other parts of Brighton – for example, the street – he said: “Anywhere in Brighton, including the highways, there would be a charge to you, except for private property. I can suggest contacting the pier, which is privately owned.”



Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive of Index on Censorship, said: “Journalists should not be charged in order to carry out their jobs. This runs counter to all the principles that should underpin a free and independent media.”



Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors, branded the move outrageous. He said: “Beaches and streets are public places. If local councils are to start charging for reporting the news, it is time someone reminded them that we are supposed to live in a free society.”



Michael Bromley, interim head of journalism at City University London, said: “Well, it would be funny if it weren’t so pathetic. The irony, of course, is that the council is compelled to provide, at its own cost, press facilities for its own meetings. Maybe Brighton council should meet on the beach and charge an entry fee?”



It is understood that a charity was also told it would have to pay if it wished to take images on the beach.



The Guardian photographed Ware on the pier, but also went ahead and took a photograph and carried out the audio interview on the beach without paying the charge. Later, when the Guardian asked the council again about the policy, its press office said it stemmed from a decision made by the economic development and culture committee in June last year, at which point the council was run by the Green party.



The council approved new fees and charges payable for filming in the city. In 2013-14 the council was paid more than £33,000 for 135 pieces of filming. It agreed to introduce a new structure from 2014-15 that would include an increase in charges and the introduction of a £50 administration charge and hourly rates.

Councillors agreed that makers of “documentaries/music videos/pieces to camera” would be charged at £300 a day or £100 an hour. Producers of “television drama/advert/feature film” would pay £400 a day or £100 an hour. But they also agreed that “news, weather, tourism” pieces should not be charged for after considering a report from a senior officer stating: “They are items of public information or directly promote the city as a destination.”



Geoffrey Bowden, who was a Green councillor and chair of the committee but lost his seat in the spring, said the charges had been aimed at organisations such as commercial film-makers and agencies making advertisements. “I was given a democratic boot up the rear by the electorate in May. However, I can only apologise that an officer has, in my opinion, misinterpreted the filming-fees regime in this way.”



Bowden, himself a journalist and PR man, said Brighton would open itself up to accusations of acting like a totalitarian regime such as North Korea if it did try to charge for genuine newsgathering.



Lucas was prepared to be more forgiving. “A council officer has clearly made a mistake on this occasion. The policy should never have been extended to newsgathering. It’s right that the council has apologised and I trust that similar incidents won’t occur in the future.”



The council said it was in discussion about how to make sure that such a situation did not arise again. It said it would investigate the circumstances of a charity being charged. It has stressed that it certainly did not charge visitors to take pictures on its beaches or public places.



A council spokesperson said: “Fees for filming and commercial photo shoots were agreed in the economic and culture committee in June 2014, in common with many other local authorities.

“Fees are not charged for current affairs, weather reports or press photography in the city. Unfortunately, the policy was incorrectly applied in this case, and the journalist was wrongly advised. We are sorry for the confusion caused.”





• This article was amended on 15 July 2015 to clarify that Ware was photographed both on the privately owned pier and on the beach. The description of Caroline Lucas as “the Green MP for Brighton” was amended to “the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion”.

