Stately home to host music festivals despite concerns

An historic Derbyshire stately home can now host music festivals with a capacity of up to 5,000 people, despite concerns over noise and parking.

South Derbyshire District Council granted a premises licence for Crow Park, which is part of the Melbourne Hall estate, owned by the Marquis of Lothian on Friday.

Councillors approved the plans from Raymond Gubbay Ltd, owned by Sony Music, to be able to host one three-day event per year, for a maximum of 4,999 people.

Residents feared the impact of another festival, due to already managing the impact of Download Festival, Donington Racetrack and East Midlands Airport.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said the event would involved live music and alcohol sales from 12:00 until 22:30 from Friday through to Sunday.

The applicant said there would be no overnight camping, meaning attendees would leave and return should they buy consecutive tickets, as weekend tickets would not be available.

Roger Lowe, on behalf of the applicant, said this event series would not be comparable to the rock music festival, Download, hosted at Donington Park, just two miles away.

Mr Lowe told the hearing: "Download is for 120,000 people, it is a very different type of event to one for 4,999 people.

"The type of event will be comedy nights and music that is compliant with the noise limit (65 decibels), which should tell you something about the sort of music it would be.

"Much of what is being discussed is negative. People are going to be spending money in shops and pubs and that is a positive, that is why many businesses are supportive of this."

Mr Lowe said on-site parking would be free of charge and that traffic management plans would be drawn up by the same company that handles Download Festival.

Two car parks, containing 1,170 spaces, would be constructed on fields to the east of Melbourne, south of Blackwell Lane.

A Melbourne resident who did not wish to be named told the hearing: "Melbourne has a population of 5,264.

"This event over three days would see the entire population of Melbourne squeezed onto one field in Blackwell Lane.

"I am concerned about the sheer volume of people that would be trying to get in and out of Melbourne for the event. A lot of residents are going to be significantly disrupted by this."

Resident, David Mill, said road closures and diversions would push the issue elsewhere.

"This is an outstanding reason why Melbourne Hall is not suitable for such events", said Mr Mill.

Dot Devey-Smith said drivers who are unfamiliar with the area would increase traffic problems.

"Unfamiliar drivers would be coming down this narrow road and you can't require people to park in the parking area provided and there are already very few spaces to park in Melbourne.

"Residents are going to end up without their places to park," she said.

The licensing panel said they considered the parking concerns and granted approval for the premises license on the conditions that details of each event are provided to residents and the parish council.

The panel added that a traffic management plan must be submitted 30 days before the planned events.

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