(Cowden and Hever)

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologised for the delayed start.

The Hearing gave consideration to the report by the Licensing Officer giving details of an application for a new time limited premise license under the Licensing Act 2003. He provided a brief overview of the application and gave details of when and what supplementary information had been received following the report being published. Two amendments to the report were highlighted, firstly the terminal hour for the sale of alcohol within the Rainbow Room until 06:00am and secondly an additional email objection which had been marked as SPAM taking the total number of resident objections to seven. It was noted that 5.1 of the Conditions for Neverworld 2018 had been agreed in the adjournment. The Licensing Officer confirmed the conditions which had been agreed by the applicant and directed Members to the two main areas of concern, the duration of the activities and the level at which noise would be monitored.

The Applicant was in attendance with his Solicitor and Event Manager and Noise consultant. The Hearing heard from the Applicant’s Solicitor who summarised the event and its history at the site. The Applicant’s Solicitor accepted that there had been complaints relating to public nuisance of the ‘Leefest’ music festival held in 2017 by the applicant and explained the measures taken to avoid these in the future. He also drew attention to the fact that a freedom of information request had been submitted to Sevenoaks District Council in 2016 which had shown no complaints for the 2016 festival, however complaints had been received in 2017. The Applicant had hired a new Events Manager and a Noise consultant. Consultation was said to have been carried out with local residents prior to the application. The Applicant’s Events Manager advised that they had entered into a contract with Wilderness Farm which prohibited the site from hosting another music event of more than 500 people. The organisers wished for the event to contribute to the economy and tourism of the area and they had also carried out outreach work in the local area. 25% of tickets sold so far had been for families and the representative advised that tickets had been given to local residents who would be served by shuttle service between the festival and nearby residential areas. No day tickets would be sold.

The Applicant’s Solicitor advised that the proposed operating hours had been altered from the previous year including stages being open until 2am on the Friday morning and only the Rainbow Rooms stage to remain open until 6am on the Saturday and Sunday morning. The altered operating hours were said to have been adopted following consultation with Chiddingstone Parish Council. It was noted that a reduction to 1 bar between the hours of 2am and 6am would allow staff to better monitor alcohol consumption and control noise levels. There would be no use of microphones after 23:00.

The Applicant’s Events Manager and Noise Consultant provided additional technical information especially concerning noise reduction. Steps had been taken to ensure appropriate event control, such as working with an experienced Sound Contractor. The Noise Consultant has significant experience with festivals, construction works and all UK motor racing courses. There would be real-time noise monitoring. A methodology had been agreed with Environmental Health Officers to take account of aircraft noise. A night-time level of 35dB had proposed at the sensitive sites in accordance with WHO guidelines, with no bass beat to be permitted.

In response to Members’ questions the Applicant’s representatives clarified that the Council must approve fireworks usage and it was intended that loud fireworks would only be used before 11pm. The Panel requested clarification on the delivery times as laid out in the Traffic Management Plan and where security searches would take place. Members were advised that the Rainbow Rooms would hold up to 500 people, would function primarily as a venue for late night refreshments and would also provide entertainment during the night. ‘Sound Baffles’ were planned to be installed to prevent omni-directional sound, reduce sound energy and to off-set the effects of low frequency sounds. The Noise Consultant answered questions around the proposed noise levels, noting that sound may drop by 10dB between the outside and inside of a property with open windows, and that a level of 25dB inside a property would not impact sleep or have psychoacoustic impact. He acknowledged that the bass beat would also have to be eliminated in order to have no impact. Members were advised that if sounds levels were to go above those prescribed for the time a sound limiter would cap the sounds and stages would be closed if non-compliant.

A local resident objecting to the application raised concerns that in previous years her complaints had not been dealt with when she contacted the telephone numbers provided. The Applicant advised the process had been developed and staff would be on hand to answer the complaints telephone line at all times. A complaints message log would be visible to the Council. Applicant suggested he could circulate the complaints information to a wider group of residents than in previous years.

Environmental Health advised that an out of hours Council telephone line would be in operation as was in previous years. Complaints had been received following the festival in 2016. It was explained that sound may be more noticeable to the residents than to an instrument. The Applicant and his Noise Consultant advised that they could conduct noise tests from within the neighbouring properties if the residents wished. Problems in 2017 arose when a bar was re-opened with questionable authority. The Noise Consultant would have absolute authority to close the bar.

The Head of the Licensing Partnership advised that her main concern had been the risk of public nuisance caused by music and festival attendees into the early hours (06:00am). She referred to a report 2 in supplementary agenda 2 which listed the operating hours of other camping festivals around the country and showed a range of different finish times for music and sale of alcohol both earlier and later those proposed in the application.

The Assistant Environmental Health Manager expressed frustration with the late submission of proposals from the applicant and his representatives. They stated that the Applicant had found it difficult to comply with noise restrictions after 2am in the past. It was suggested that no music could be played following midnight on the Thursday with the noise levels being reduced following midnight on the weekend evenings, to cease after 2am after which it was also likely that Officers would no longer be available. 

A representative from Kent Police advised the committee that the Applicant’s festivals hadn’t cause a significant issue in the past and this event was considered a low security risk event which would not require police presence. Kent police received the Security and Traffic management plan on 11 July 2018 and planned to liaise with applicant directly over these documents.

A local resident spoke in support of the application stating that she had attended the festival in previous years with her family and appreciated the community outreach the Applicant arranged, especially in the form of Music Masterclasses at Hever School.

The resident against the application spoke and explained that the festival had interfered with her ability to sleep at night and enjoy her home. She was concerned that she had experienced tinnitus from the festival in previous years and children nearby could not sleep. Previous promises at noise control had not been met. In response the applicant’s noise consultant noted that Health & Safety regulations only recommended protection when at 80dB and above. However, tinnitus could also be induced by stress.

At 14:13 p.m. the Hearing Panel Members withdrew to consider the issues raised, accompanied by the Council’s Legal Advisor and Clerk to the Hearing for the purpose of providing advice only.

At 15.20 p.m. the Hearing Panel Members, Council’s Legal Advisor and Clerk to the Hearing returned to the Chamber.

The Chairman informed the Hearing that the Sub-Committee had had regard to the representations made by the Applicant and interested parties, the Licensing objectives, the Statutory Guidance issued under Section 182 of the Act and the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and was therefore granting the application subject to additional conditions where appropriate to address potential undermining of the licensing objective of prevention of public nuisance. An informative was included that residents affected by the noise and wishing to complain should call the Council and follow up their conversation with an email.

Resolved: That a Time Limited Premises Licence in respect of Neverworld, Wilderness Farm, Wilderness Lane, Hever, Kent TN8 7LP subject to mandatory conditions and additional conditions contained in the notice of determination attached as an appendix to these minutes, be granted.