A new music festival at Hinton Ampner in Bramdean has been blocked from expanding over fears it would cause too many problems for people living and working nearby.
The application by the Morton family for a four-day music event called the Brockwood Festival took Winchester City Council’s licensing committee all day to finally refuse a licence.
The 2,000-person festival was to be held at Brockwood Farm off the A272 between Bramdean and the West Meon Hut from July 11 to 14, with the aim of growing to 3,000 people in 2025 and 5,000 thereafter.
The first, private, Brockwood Festival in 2021 saw 500 people attend – with a further limited-capacity event set to take place from July 12 to 14 this year.
But its expansion plans have riled up locals, with 50 written representations received about the selling of alcohol and playing music from midday until 4am, comparing its impact to another local August festival Boomtown and raising concerns over the impact on the local area and its neighbours.
The venue is on ‘private arable land with a small, wooded area encompassed by fencing’, known as Gowin’s Copse.
One of the 34 objectors said it wasn’t fair to allow one new business to crush an existing business, the Krishnamurti Foundation Trust retreat.
The festival would only be 100 metres away and they feared rattling windows and noise would mean residents even in Cheriton would not be able to sleep.
Expert Peter Rogers, managing director of Sustainable Acoustics, assessed the level of noise already there and found it was extraordinarily quiet and tranquil.
Brockwood Festival will return for another limited-capacity two-day event on July 12 to 14 – but has been denied the opportunity to build on its success and expand (Brockwood Festival)
A former gardener at the retreat, Gary Primrose, also expressed fears over the impact on wildlife.
Sir Michael Snyder, of Church Lane, Bramdean, said he objected on grounds of the “noise and traffic issues which will create a public nuisance and the inappropriateness of holding such an event over four days with the additional preparation and clearing periods either side”.
But Claire Rogers, of Hinton Ampner Place, one of 16 people to throw their support behind the festival, tried to quash this by saying she did not believe noise would create public nuisance.
“We live within a couple of miles of the festival and the event has never caused any undue noise and is in fact something that most of the locals enjoy and support. Being as close as we are to the festival, I feel that we are in an excellent position to judge whether or not we would be disturbed by the noise! I do hope that the licence will be granted.”
Applicant Mr Morton said it would be wonderful because of the intimate feel of the venue, an event in the heart of the family’s farmland.
Mr Morton said farming is risky, so wants to bring an enterprise to the farm and a source of income while having a minimum impact on the local area.
But the committee felt evidence from acoustic experts convinced that the festival – and the noise generated – would harm the tranquil site.
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Written by: Soft FM Radio Staff
2000person blocked fears Festival music noise plans
