Kite 2020 festival plans raise concerns over noise

A new music festival could be held in the grounds of an Oxfordshire stately home.

Organisers said Kite 2020 would include a "discussion of social, political and technological ideas".

It would be held at Kirtlington Park from 12 June to 14 June, with a capacity for 5,000 people each day.

But Kirtlington Parish Council said it was concerned about "potential risk to public safety and potential public nuisance".

U-Live, which is organising the event, said "a mixture of national and international speakers and musicians" would perform on two main stages, potentially until 02:00 each day.

The council said: "Those living in the village centre already encounter significant difficulty when negotiating the main through road at peak times either as drivers or pedestrians.

"It seems safe to assume the additional traffic associated with this event will increase these difficulties for the elderly and for very young pedestrians in particular."

Kirtlington Park is Grade II listed and its gardens were laid out by Capability Brown in the 1750s, following work the decade before by the then Royal Gardener, Thomas Greening.

A "diverse adult audience of both students and working professionals ranging from 21-60 years" is expected to attend the festival, the organisers said.

U-Live is owned by Universal Music and runs the Nocturne concerts at Blenheim Palace in West Oxfordshire.

Cherwell District Council is not making any recommendation on the application for a premises licence before a meeting on 21 January.