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 ??

You've evidently never lived near a festival site. It can be pretty hellish.

Perhaps a comparison would be useful.

The West Midlands Showground in Shrewsbury is almost 100 acres, so the same size as the Monmouth Showground which is 96 acres.

The Shrewsbury Folk Festival is held each year at the West Mids and has around 7,000 attendees.

About 5,000 of them stay on site or in nearby accommodation, the other 2,000 day trip. Shrewsbury is a major town and has hundreds of hotel beds available - Monmouth really doesn't.

The council won't get any money out of it, unless you're suggesting they're being bribed to give permission 🤣 The site is privately owned!!

Wow thanks for crunching the numbers that's a very interesting comparison!

Surely there is a cost for a licence though?

Piffling amounts.

And if the showground already has a Premises Licence, nothing.

No way would I leave my house unguarded with that going on.

I can see how this would be disruptive/ noisy. Could you rent you place out to the organisers or festival goers?

Why on earth would anybody be so crazy as to try and hype it up like that if it wasn't a certain thing? The organisers are so so confident from what I've been reading and insist all the legalities are agreed and the council have given permission

You said it yourself, @treatmelikeamushroom; they get themselves hyped up and spew all kinds of nonsense all over social media, only to disappear when the supposed plans fall apart

I used to run a major one day community event - though that one was only about 12,000 people - and know very well the endless requirements councils impose. On your description permission seems unlikely, but as PPs have said an approach to your local councillors might be worthwhile to get the facts

Reminds me of that documentary about the fyre festival

That's so weird, I'd be so embarrassed to do something like that !!

This whole thread is very embarassing and symptomatic of what is wrong in British society and the planning system as a whole.

Embarrassing Main character syndrome unfortunately amongst NIMBYs these days

Or we could ignore thought-terminating clichés and concentrate on meaningful facts, comparisons and lived experience.

We could have other comparisons.

The Green Man festival, not that far from Monmouth, has 25,000 attendees, including 500 people who work there. But that is on a 400 acre site.

Kendal Calling has 40,000 attendees, not including those working there. So getting towards 45,000 people. But on a 2,000 acre site.

I live about 13 miles from one festival site and I can hear it if the wind is in the right direction!

I have no clue what you mean but it sounds like you're being rude to me? Can you explain exactly what you mean because I'm not sure I understand !!

We have had one in the area I live in for the past few years over the May BH, there have been shuttle buses laid on to bring people in from quite a large area and the railway station , campers are encouraged to arrive there the night before and I think the music is all finished by 11pm. I don't live as near as you but know people who do and they have said that there is a bit of disruption but not loads and it's liveable. She did mention that her estate has parking restrictions during the festival I presume this is supplied by the council. I was like you when I heard this was happening a few years ago but honestly it hasn't turned out as bad as I anticipated. Sometimes it can be the setting up days that cause more chaos as these firms have huge articulated lorries waiting to enter the site.

I was not being rude, although having a different opinion is sometimes seen as an attack on here.

I just feel that "locals should be consulted" is just a way of saying "we should get to veto". Often the case with new housing developments too - "consult with locals" normally results in a "not in my backyard" response.

Ok but it's not a housing development, and I'd have zero problem with houses being built if the plans were sensible anyway, we need more houses, people need somewhere to live and I'd rather live next door to a sensibly built housing estate then have an annual 45000 person festival with 5 stages and 500 portaloos (mind you the site shares an entrance with the sewage works so nice and easy for emptying all those portaloos 🤣)

Yes as it goes I do think residents should given notice about plans like this, if they want to object they should be able to but more importantly they should be given some actual solid info so they can decide whether or not they want to object! People shouldn't just have stuff like this imposed on them they should get given facts so they can actually see what's going on not just hear vague rumours which I think makes them more likely to be pissed off about it when they feel like they're kept in the dark (hence my user name for this post). If that makes me a nimby so be it but I don't think I am, I'm not saying nothing should ever happen or be built, I'm saying this particular plan is unworkable as it's being proposed and I want to see how on earth anyone thinks they can make it work. As someone further up said, the numbers and size of the site mean it would be 3 times the people per acre of land as at Glastonbury which cannot possibly be ok !!

I don't know what bit of any of that makes you accuse me of " Main Character Syndrome " or being a nimby because I'm absolutely fine with events happening on the site that are actually manageable and proven to work with that space.

Local people are in the best position to point out potential problems and ask how they will be dealt with.

In this case, for instance

• the unsuitability of a 96 acre site for 45,000 attendees
• security for neighbouring properties
• noise levels affecting an entire town
• traffic levels - the issues noted above regarding the location are factual
• safety - as the site is bisected by a road
• how attendees will get there - there is very limited public transport and the nearest railway station is 16 miles away along a B road

I'm not sure "local people" are better served to highlight a sites adequacy/inadequacy, the required acreage needed for person, or indeed traffic issues. That would be experts such as civil engineers...

Monmouth Rising in the Wye Valley will be like your festival. If I was younger I would love to go, I love the atmosphere of a festival and kids enjoy it.

OP I wouldn't be leaving my property that's for sure. But I do like a pp's idea of selling lemonade over the fence. Instead of that though, do bottled water. Make a huge sign on a bed sheet and hang it over your fence advertising cold water for however much - you'll make a killing!

Well they've announced an act and safe to say I won't be going unless they come up with something better. Also apparently someone has contacted the county council and been told the organisers haven't even APPLIED for an event licence yet!!

Well it's all kicked off on the towns main facebook page with some people claiming to have evidence that the company's running it are dodgy and the festival organiser blocking people who question anything !!

I did make a call to the council last week and they couldn't give me any information other than that no permission had been given yet and that there was a safety group meeting coming up to look at the plans before any applications could even be made. And that signs had to go up at the site to tell people an application was being made and how to get more information. So I won't worry too much until I see any signs go up around the fields for the events license application. Now I've seen what's being suggested locally about it all being a hoax or scam and read up online about it thanks to some of the advice I was given here, I'm not sure it will ever happen as I don't see how they can get permission for it.

Good to know! Do keep us posted if you don't mind. It all sounds very dodgy, doesn't it?