But he added: “If we are not successful with our application we have still got a premises licence application that we can rely on to provide licensable activities.
During the hearings a number of residents highlighted their fears, including Alexander Matthewson, who said he was concerned that because the location was next to the M25 volume at the site had to be louder to cover traffic noise.
He highlighted the ‘unlit’ footpath from the site and access to the site, as well as its Green Belt location.
Chair of Napsbury Park Residents Association Gary Davis pointed to the ‘huge amount’ of complaints they received during the Tearout Festival in 2019 – when he said people couldn’t sit in their gardens or sleep with their windows open.
Eight applicants seek premises licences to hold festivals in St Albans
Many residents objected the application
Photo of a festival crowd (Image: pxhere.com)
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Hertfordshire councillors have had to consider eight different applications in order to licence a site to hold festivals in St Albans.
Mr Davis said their objections stemmed from their experiences of the Tearout event in 2019, when sound levels meant residents could not sit out in their gardens or open their windows.
Another objector, Alex Matthewson, also pointed to sound levels – which he said were higher because of the site s proximity to the M25.
He warned that the applications for so many festivals were a creeping development of the Green Belt .
A number of written objections also highlighted disturbance from previous festivals, which were said to be “extremely noisy and disruptive” and out of character with the Green Belt.
One objection states: “My house is located around half a mile away from the site and yet we can still hear the extremely loud music for hours on end.”