Linton: Cambridge Rock Festival granted licence by council

Concerns had been raised by some about the event creating “intolerable” noise, but councillors said they believed the concerns were based on other events.

South Cambridgeshire District Council has given permission for the four-day festival to take place once a year over at the Horseheath Lodge Estate, in Dean Road, to the east of Linton.

The estate is owned by Lotto winner Adrian Bayford, who won £148million in 2012.

The festival has taken place at the estate twice before in 2017 and 2018. It had been due to take place there again this summer, but was cancelled after the organisers were told they would have to apply for a permanent licence rather than a temporary licence they had previously used.

The new licence allows up to 1,500 people to attend the event – including staff, contractors and entertainers.

It also allows for the festival to play live music and sell alcohol between 11am and 11pm.

At a meeting of the district council’s licensing sub-committee this week (July 25), David Roberts, from RBF Festivals Limited, said the festival was a “family friendly” event.

Mr Roberts said the festival offered a “huge range of different styles”, not just rock, including blues, folk, and even a flute based band set to perform next year.

He said the organisers considered the event to be “very community focused” highlighting that many volunteers lived within 10 miles of the event, and said there was also “considerable local involvement” from nearby companies and charities.

Mr Roberts said the festival was “not massive” and that each of the three stages used a sound system similar to one that might be used at a “village hall event”.

He also highlighted that the area the festival was proposed to take place was in a dip, which would help prevent sound travelling a great distance.

No objections to the plans were raised by police, the Cambridgeshire County Council highways team, environmental health, the fire service, or trading standards.

The application was also supported by Horseheath Parish Council, which said it had “very good communication” with the festival organisers, and that there had been no concerns raised in the area the last time the festival was held there.

The parish council said: “The event was clearly well managed with adequate stewards and no excess nose. Our residents have stated strong support for the rock festival being in Horseheath, the event is considered to be a positive asset in the parish.”

However, concerns were raised by Linton Parish Council which objected to the application for the annual event, arguing the festival could cause “severe disturbance to peace and sleep”.

Councillor John Bald, from the parish council said playing amplified music outside until 11pm “does have potential to create nuisance”.

He said: “The fact is you are taking a site in the middle of the countryside and using it for a purpose that it was not really intended for, it is almost a mini Glastonbury, taking a farm site and using it in this way seems to us frankly unsuitable.

“Our objection is to the potential for a great deal of disturbance to our residents and no effective prevention to control it once this starts. No one objects to an afternoon festival, but going on late at night is a legitimate concern for residents.”

Cllr Bald said he did not believe the district council would be effective in preventing any potential noise issues, claiming people had tried to contact the authority before out of hours, but had not been able to get through to anybody.

Council officers confirmed that the authority does not have an out of hours noise complaint line, but said if any issues were reported then they would be investigated. They also confirmed that the district council received no complaints when the Cambridge Rock Festival was held at the site in 2017 or 2018.

Councillor Anna Bradnam asked Cllr Bald whether the noise complaints he had heard about related to a different event, which he confirmed they did, but said he was still concerned about the lack of an out of hours phone line to contact the district council.

It was highlighted that a hotline was proposed to be made available during the festival where people could contact the organisers themselves if there were any noise issues.

Cllr Bald also confirmed that to his knowledge there had been no complaints from people in Linton about the Cambridge Rock Festival when it was held at the site in 2017 and 2018.

After considering the application in private, the sub-committee confirmed it would be granting the licence.

Cllr Bradnam said she was “sorry” the festival had been cancelled this year, and that she hoped the event next year was successful.

She said: “I think you have been subject of geography, in the sense that a lot of concerns raised by people I think relate to other events and not yours.

“There have been no complaints to the licensing authority about your event, and no complaints to Linton Parish Council, and Horseheath Parish Council said ‘yes please we like it please come’.

“You demonstrated an admirable approach to running such an event, everything that you have done indicated running this event really well.

“I just wanted to congratulate you running such a well managed event.”