To not understand how this can be allowed without anyone asking local residents?

[treatmelikeamushroom]

Just read a big announcement on our local facebook page saying a 3 day festival with an absolutely enormous capacity is being held on the fields behind my house this summer (my garden backs onto the fields). I don't want to say how big exactly because it's outing (news articles that come up if you google the exact figure) but it's several times bigger than the entire population of the small town I live in! The road access is really bad already and there's really bad traffic that causes hour long delays when the annual county show is held which is only on for 1 day and is a tiny number of people compated to this festival. There's never been anything even approaching this size here before, it's about 10 times the size of any events that the fields have ever held before. It's a fairly small site so to fit in what the organisers say they're fitting in (5 stages including a dance stage run by a very famous nightclub) every scrap of the fields will have to be used right up to the residents garden fences and the noise will be horrific.

But apparently it's a done deal and is all been given the green light by the town council? It's not a busy place at all, it's a very small town and the site has a main road running through the middle of it (so half the fields are on each side of this road) and housing estate running all down one side of it. Usually it's mostly used for just sheep and one or two of the fields (there's about 6 in total) for the small local event like car boot sales or the county show or a classic car show (and those events cause traffic chaos as it is despite being only very small events ) What I don't understand is I walk over those field nearly every day for the school run and there's been no notices about the plans or anything, no local residents have had a chance to see the plans or object or anything. I can't over state how unsuitable a venue this is for what I've read is happening without outing my location but its really really not at all appropriate! Do residents not have to be told or asked about plans for something thjs big and disruptive ??

Definitely don’t leave your property and go on holiday as another poster has suggested - you might come home to your house having been trashed

Find out who the lead councillor for licensing is for your local council, and check for recent licensing committee meetings on your council website. They should have noise management plan to mitigate impact on local residents

There should have been a consultation period for any event with numbers over that permitted by a TEN (temporary event notice), but this can be fulfilled by putting a notice in a local paper, which if you don't subscribe, you won't have seen.

Somethingcloseby · Today 22:21

MrsSkylerWhite · Today 22:18
Will it be good for the local economy?

Yes, see my post a couple of lines up

I was asking OP?

Ok, they'll still put up a massive perimeter fence though to keep people both in and out

GlasgowGal82
I put travellers for context.

The site was totally unsuitable, it is in the greenbelt, didn't fit the criteria set out by the government.

It was the fact they were doing behind everyone's back

Would you like to live right next door to a festival? Wouldn't you be concerned if you were the OP?

I think in your position I’d air b&b your place out. You will probably make a bit of money if it’s going to be busy and then you get to go away for a few days.

Take lots and lots of pictures to make sure the council cover any damage to your garden.

i use to live next to a large venu, most of the time it was fine with notice we could go away if we didn’t want to listen to it. Big concerts, talking A liners, we’d have a massive party and enjoy a free concert, some of our neighbours would add scaffolding to throw parties and get prime viewing, our garden was pretty good we had a fairly decent view without scaffolding. The only time I got pisssed off was after travelling 26 hours I got home at 5am, parked my car in my usual spot to be woken up at 8am by my flatmate telling me my car was being towed. Apparently they decided to close the road for this one particular event and the only notice we got was an a4 sheet of paper taped to a random pole outside the house which I hadn’t seen at 5am when jet lagged.

For the most part we didn’t get many drunks getting into our gardens. During one event my flatmate was sunbathing topless in the garden when a couple of drunks wandered in and led next her asking to join her. She’d forgotten to lock the gate at the front of the house.

I think I know where you are. It all sounds mad. If it is where I think it is I totally agree, how on earth they think they will fit so many people in and/or make the traffic work I don't know. Madness.

In fact I have just googled the festival I think you are referring to and recognise wording from your post - so now 100% confident it is the same place!

If you enjoy festivals I'd say try to blag free tickets as others have suggested. If you don't and/or have small children go and visit family or friends - I think it will be hell on earth trying to ignore it and get around town.

I hope it's not Vegan camp out who are moving to a new location this year. They were previously in our small town and the amount of criminal damage throughout the town to businesses was insane and the traffic was gridlock, supermarkets were insane.

I don't blame you for opposing it, especially as it's so close.

Would it be worth reaching out to the organisers and asking for their site plan to reassure you before you decide to escalate? Maybe ask what measures are in place?

My sympathies are with you, @treatmelikeamushroom. All these people suggesting that you are a NIMBY or that it's only three days so get on with it or that you will have free entertainment are not the ones who live next to these fields. To me, a pop music festival would be hell on earth and I am sure I would not be the only one. It is one thing to choose to go to a festival and enjoy the entertainment, but it is a totally different thing when it is inflicted on you. These events are LOUD and if it is hot you don't want to keep your windows closed, but it is the only way to keep some of the noise out. If you have small children or babies, they cannot sleep and get out of their routines. Animals are not always keen, either. I remember one time some years ago when there was very loud pop music for hours in a park near us. It started around 2 pm with no warning and was audible in our house, which was about five minutes' walk away from the park, unless we closed the windows. The people whose houses backed on to the park would not have been able to watch television or hear the radio in their own homes even with the windows closed. If it had lasted for three days, it would have been unbearable. I also sympathise with you having portaloos at very close quarters. The council really should have considered and consulted the people who live nearby.

Oh no I thought I had been careful enough not to say anything too identifying! Well at least it's not just me who thinks it sounds ridiculous. I don't even think we can go away as we can't really afford it and it's not an easy time for me to take holiday from work either. I'm not airb&bing our house either, it's very much not airb&b material and it's full of kids stuff lol.

I don't know why you don't just tell us where it is, you are not posting under your own name so won't be identified and who is going to bother to identify you anyway?

I live miles away from Heaton Park and hate the concert weekend they have. You can hear just enough for it to be annoying. As least you'll hear the words/ see what's going on.

Ask to see the traffic management plan for this event and their toilet facilities .capacity.
I wouldn't be impressed at all.

Council won’t be bothered as they’ll be getting mega bucks. Happens net me all the time, festivals in the local park means it’s shut off to locals unless you pay £129 for a ticket. Despite paying huge c.tax. It’s all down to who pays most.

Can we have a clue as to the festival? I'm curious now as to which one it is.

Nope, fuck that for a game of soldiers. I like a good festival (with rock/heavy metal, RIP Sonisphere UK😢) but putting one right next to people's back gardens is insane!

I love festivals so you're asking the wrong person tbh. I especially love dance music, I'd be over the moon. I'd not be concerned, I mean for some reason she's not saying which one but all the ones I've been to for many years have huge perimeter security fencing, mostly to stop people climbing IN not climbing out!!

Agree

Shindig has a new venue this year, maybe it's that.

Great idea!

OP has already said that's not an option, kids etc

Yep, I used to know someone who lived in Pilton. Every year they rented out their house for a huge amount of money for 10 days when Glastonbury was on and fucked off somewhere nice.

Airbnb the house for huge amounts of money. Go on holiday with the proceeds

Or try and think of it from the POV of residents whose lives are being disrupted in ways you can't imagine.