Licensing hearing called in response to concerns over planned music festival

The planned return of a music and arts festival to the Shropshire countryside later this year has sparked concerns over noise, traffic and anti-social behaviour.

Audio Farm Festival is set to be held in the grounds of Hopton Court in Hopton Wafers in early September, with around 2,500 people expected to descend on the five-day event.

The organisers have asked Shropshire Council for a licence to serve alcohol and host live music and dance performances, but the application has received three objections from members of the public.

As a result, a hearing has been convened by the council’s licensing sub-committee to decide whether to grant or refuse the licence.

A report to the committee says  the festival was previously held at Hopton Court in September 2021 and resulted in one complaint.

No objections have been raised by the council’s environmental health, licensing or trading standards departments, or West Mercia Police.

The report details how the applicants propose to adhere to the four licensing objectives – the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, prevention of public nuisance and protection of children from harm.

These include the presence of registered security staff at a ratio of one to 200 attendees, a ‘challenge 25’ policy regarding alcohol sales, an event management plan, traffic management plan, noise mitigation plan and zero-tolerance approach to drugs.

In their application form, the organisers say the event is family friendly and all profits will go to the Green Paw Project, a charity supporting animal welfare and conservation. The festival is also fully vegan, does not allow single-use plastics and has a ‘leave no trace’ policy regarding litter.

Addressing the four licensing objectives, the company states: “This event has been carefully organised and considered to ensure a slow build up and wind down of music and entertainment over the weekend due to us being conscious of our customers’ wellbeing and thus further minimising the risk of harm, crime and nuisance.

“Our priority with our 2022 festival, as always, is to host the safest space possible so that all attendees can have peace of mind and comfort whilst at the event.

“As a business we will be focusing more on the family-friendly approach of the event, and target young families in our marketing. This will invariably continue to grow a more responsible ticket-buyer base.

“We will be bolstering our children’s area and family-entertainment offer, and ensure that we have a risk-reduction and resolution plan that ensures we are protecting children from harm.

“Safety is paramount and will ensure all aspects of any potential risks have been fully assessed, and all provisions are provided to ensure this promise.”

However the proposed return of the festival has led to concern among villagers, with three objections received to the licence application.

They claim the number of attendees at last year’s festival was “unmanageable”, and say the event led to “unacceptable” noise levels in the village.

One village resident has raised concerns over the welfare of children at the event, given the expectation of “heavy drinking” and “rowdiness”.

They also said traffic was a major issue last year, with thousands of attendees driving multiple times through the village, often at high speeds.

Another objector said: “The location of Hopton Court means noise travels easily.

“There has not been any monitoring at previous events and the organisers have been very dismissive of my concerns.

“I dread this event taking place due to the continuous noise pollution, particularly at night.”

Objectors will get the chance to voice their concerns at the hearing, when the organisers will also be invited to make their case and answer questions.

The hearing will be held at Shirehall this Thursday, starting at 10am. The committee, made up of councillors Peter Broomhall, Nigel Lumby and Garry Burchett, will then retire to consider the application and all parties will be notified of the outcome at a later date.