Objection prompts meeting over festival format

An objection has meant the future format of a major Derby music festival must be discussed by the council.

Summer Sessions, a series of concerts between 5 and 13 July, is due to take place at Markeaton Park with artists including Rag'n'Bone Man, Jess Glynne and UB40 headlining.

But despite tickets being on sale, a request from a member of the public for the music to end at 20:00 BST rather than 23:00 means a hearing has been scheduled by the city council.

The license and any restrictions are due to be considered by the general licensing sub committee on 18 December.

The festival organiser, Live Nation (Music) UK Ltd, has applied to have activities such as live music, recorded music, performance of dance and sale of alcohol at the park between 10:00 and 23:00 GMT, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The Summer Sessions event was held in Derby for the first time last year at Markeaton Park.

The events saw the likes of Tom Jones, Madness and Becky Hill perform live and was attended by thousands.

Documents show a member of the public has written to the council and said: "I would like to object. I live 10 to 15 minutes away from the park and during the summer (I think it was called Summer Sessions) the noise from the park carried considerably.

"The noise is very loud (louder than I would play music in my own house) and to have it until 11pm is too late (bearing in mind construction noise needs to be ended by 6pm).

"I would like the council to consider declining the licence completely or, if the license is granted, to have that end at a suitable time (e.g. 8pm) so as to avoid disturbing local residents' sleep/evening wind down time."

No other person, authority or emergency organisation appears to have submitted an objection. Documents state the applicant has had a number of conditions agreed with Derbyshire Police about holding the series of concerts.

A proposed condition is for the organiser to file a noise assessment to the council at least eight weeks prior to any music event. The purpose of the noise assessment is to set noise limits for all amplified music.

Another condition is for sound monitoring to take place "at the nearest noise sensitive residencies".

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