Pledge over Shrewsbury festival noise complaints
A review of Shropshire and West Midlands Showground's premises licence is to take place in order to make it easier to control noise levels at outdoor events held at the site.
The review follows a number of complaints about sound levels at events held at the showground.
These include the Shrewsbury Fields Forever Festival, at which both volume and bass were found to exceeded permitted levels.
Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for public protection, today stressed that the council did not intend to limit or stop music events.
But he said the council was looking at the showground's licence excluding any significant outdoor music events, with all larger outdoor events being subject to a bespoke licence.
Last year the council received a number of complaints following the Folk Festival and Shrewsbury Fields Forever as well as the Monster Truck Show and the Vintage Vehicle Rally.
In May 2013, Shropshire Council issued a noise abatement notice on the Shropshire and West Midland Agricultural Society after complaints by residents of noisy events regularly lasting late into the night. The notice ordered that a noise management plan should be made for every event.
It also said no amplified music should be played outdoors between 11pm and 10am unless approved by the council, with the same ban also applying to the use of public address systems between 7pm and 9am.
The order also banned any activities taking place within 10 metres of the southern boundary of the site adjacent to the River Severn.
Mr Charmley said: "The music festivals and other outdoor events held at the showground every year are incredibly popular, are enjoyed by many thousands of people, and provide a real boost to the economy of Shrewsbury and Shropshire.
"So it's important to stress that we're not seeking to limit or stop music events at the Shropshire and West Midlands Showground – simply make it easier to control noise levels.
"We've been working closely with the Shropshire and West Midlands Agricultural Society to try and improve management of the site and there has been a significant improvement. However, noise has remained an occasional problem.
"The issue is that under their current licence the showground has an umbrella permission to hold music events without any specific additional controls, and they are unable to exert any real control over the event organiser."
No-one from the Shropshire and West Midland Agricultural Society was available for comment.
