Concerns raised over planned rock festival at Peterborough's Nene Park

Concerns have been raised over plans for a new rock festival which has been planned for a Peterborough park.

The plans were revealed earlier this month, and would see the Nene Valley Rock Festival held between August 31 and September 3 on land at Horse Meadow and Lynch Farm at Nene Park.

The festival could see 64 bands playing three stages housed within fully covered marquees.

The festival plans to use two fields at Nene Park. First, Horse Meadow, which would contain a a fenced-off “music arena” where the marquees, a designated bar area, food traders, other traders, toilets will be sited.

The paddock area behind Lynch Farm would be used for camping for tents, caravans and motorhomes.

However, residents living near the site have raised a series of concerns.

Residents ‘understandably anxious’

Orton Waterville councillor Julie Stevenson said: "This isn't NIMBYism on the part of residents, who are all used to living alongside large scale events at the nearby Showground. The concern is that the Nene Park Trust land that up until recently was used by the decommissioned riding school is to be used to provide camping for the event. This field is very close to people's houses and residents are understandably anxious to know how living next to an encampment will affect them.

“I've spoken to residents who have attending meetings with the NPT team about this, and they tell me they have come away with fears that there will be inadequate security on site and that Nene Park Trust is washing its hands of any responsibility for what may happen on its land and surrounding streets during the festival. When large events are held at the Showground, the Showground security team has been on hand 24/7 to react to antisocial behaviour. Nene Park Trust thinks that volunteers can do as good a job at providing security at an event that hopes to provide all day drinking but we fear they underestimate the potential from problems and are relying too heavily on the event organisers and the police to address any issues as they happen. I hope the festival will go ahead, but in an appropriate location (such as the embankment) and with appropriate safety and security measures in place."

‘We are listening to residents’

Andrew MacDermott, Acting Chief Executive of Nene Park Trust, said 'As part of our commitment to the people of Peterborough, one of our charitable objectives is to provide facilities for recreation and leisure, and we’ve been working hard recently to diversify the offering at Ferry Meadows to cater for more people and different tastes. A huge factor in our recent success with Peterborough Celebrates Festival was how varied the offer was, and as a result over 23,000 people from the local area and beyond joined us for the weekend’s festivities.

"Working with Nene Valley Rock Festival to enable them to use the facilities at Ferry Meadows to put on this event for their audience is yet another example of this. We’re working closely with the organisers and listening to residents to ensure concerns are heard and addressed while looking at the feasibility of this event during the licensing process.”