Music festival at Stratford Rugby Club faces opposition from nearby residents

STRATFORD Rugby Club’s plans to hold a festival at its Pearcecroft ground are facing opposition.

The club, which is based off Loxley Road, is working with events company On Tick Ltd to stage the Cider and Music Festival on the weekend of 12th-13th July.

It would feature a number of cover bands, including MacBusted, Arctic Monkeyz, Real Magic Queen and the Really Hot Chili Peppers.

As part of the plans, On Tick Ltd has applied for a premises licence. As well as covering the festival, the licence would run for a year and cover proposed outdoor boxing/wrestling matches, dance performances and other music events, according to a Stratford District Council report.

However, the council’s environmental health and licensing manager and a senior environmental health officer have expressed concern about the application.

The issues centre around the lack of onsite parking, the absence of a traffic management plan and a noise management plan and the close proximity of the homes to the rugby ground, which is directly behind houses on Loxley Road.

Concerns have also been raised by some residents on Loxley Road which, again, include traffic and noise issues as well as fears about nuisance, crime and public safety.

One resident wrote: ‘The only singular access to this location is a 7m-wide access road to the rugby club, which my house borders onto with the walls of my kitchen and lounge making up one of the boundaries.

‘Presently this road is only used for the club, and once a year for a fireworks event. The fireworks event is completed by 9pm on a school night, lasting for around four hours in total.

‘The application by On Tick is for a three-day licence, starting at midday, going on until 11pm for three nights running (for which they are already selling tickets).

‘That timeframe is completely unacceptable in a field surrounded by houses.’

The resident adds: ‘Of course that only means the music will stop at 11pm. We can expect 4,000+ inebriated concert goers to then slowly leave the site by the only means they can - 2m from my living room. This is without taking account of further noise by clean-up, traders, staff, works trucks, etc. Basically our home, along with several others in close vicinity, would become unliveable for the period of the event.

‘Needless to say, whenever the fireworks are on, parking becomes a major issue for four hours. This would be for two to three days.’

The ward councillor Kate Rolfe (Lib Dem) has not objected to the scheme, subject to noise and traffic issues being dealt with.

The application states that a full security plan has been created while there will also be trained stewards, a first aid point and noise monitoring, including a hotline for residents to report concerns throughout the event.

Stratford District Council’s licensing panel will consider the arguments for and against the application at a meeting on Thursday (3rd April).