Two neighbours have objected to a licence application for the Land Beyond Festival which is due to take place in East Brighton Park next year.
The Festivals Group Limited has applied for a time-limited premises licence at the park in Wilson Avenue over the late May bank holiday weekend next year.
A panel of three members of Brighton and Hove City Council are due to decide whether to grant the licence at a hearing on Tuesday 15 September.
They are expected to hear from the objectors and the Brighton-based festival company owned by Paris O’Connell, 34 and Alexander Isles, 35.
The company has applied for a licence to sell alcohol and show films, play live and recorded music and host dance performances from Friday 28 May to Monday 31 May from 11am to 10.30pm between 11am and 10.30pm.
The event is expected to host live music on one main stage on the Friday and bank holiday Monday, suitable for those aged 14 and over.
On the Saturday and Sunday, the festival is due to have a number of stages and to be strictly for the over 18s.
One of the anonymous objectors raised concerns about stewarding, crowd dispersal and lack of clean-up.
The objector, whose details were redacted by the council, said: “Well-managed events can bring life and enjoyment to the park and benefit the wider community.
“However, this particular event has repeatedly demonstrated poor management, resulting in an unacceptable impact on local residents, the surrounding environment and the park itself.
“In my view, the organisers have failed to adequately mitigate the consequences of an event of this scale.”
The other anonymous objector, whose details were also redacted, said: “Our home life is already regularly impacted by anti-social behaviour associated with alcohol consumption.
“There is no information about the number of people expected to attend this proposed event and therefore site suitability cannot be determined.
“East Brighton Park is an invaluable resource for local families and this event would limit their ability to enjoy this public space during a rare public holiday.”
Neither Brighton and Hove City Council nor Sussex Police have opposed the application.
In the event of the licence being granted, the applicant has agreed draft conditions with Sussex Police.
Those conditions would require 14 to 18-year-olds to be accompanied by a responsible adult and for an event management plan to be submitted at least five months before the event.
And draft conditions agreed with the council’s licensing team would require security staff to be deployed by the corner of Henley Road and Whitehawk Road when crowds disperse.
The organisers said that there would be enough toilets – and a clean-up team is also planned for the event.
All residents in the area should receive a letter at least two weeks before the event with details on how to contact the noise management team.
The council licensing panel hearing is due to take place at 10am on Tuesday 15 September and is scheduled to be webcast.
Yet again, the Council is riding roughshod over local residents. Take Preston park – when I moved here 23 years ago, there were 2 big events – Pride and a Circus. This year we have 13, all at the expense of significant disruption to local residents with noise, lighting, loss of the use of the park, illegal parking etc. The council couldnt care less and want to INCREASE the number of license days.
Fight this