Festival granted licence amid residents' complaints

HowTheLightGetsIn has been granted a licence for May

A Herefordshire arts festival has been granted a late-May licence for 2024 and the next five years amid opposition from residents.

HowTheLightGetsIn can now go ahead on 24 to 27 May on a field between Newport Street and the river Wye, in Cusop, just over the English border from Hay-on-Wye.

A resident near the site said he and fellow neighbours had suffered "a lot of noise, nuisance and disturbance" in previous years the event was held.

The festival’s founder Hilary Lawson said: "The only reason for doing it is to improve the cultural life of the residents."

The resident also said he felt the large numbers of festival-goers had been "intimidating" in previous years.

Ewen Macgregor, representing festival organisers TVF, said it was "telling" that there had so far been no enforcement action at the festival site, nor had traffic, police or public health officers objected to the current application.

Putting the value locally in terms of employment and expenditure at "over a million pounds", he said current objectors were "the same ones as in previous years".

"The silent majority are unworried by it," he claimed.

After more than an hour’s deliberation by a Herefordshire Council licensing committee on Friday, councillors decided to approve the application.

Councillor Polly Andrews, of Cusop Parish Council, urged residents to use the hotline provided for any concerns during the event "so these are properly documented".

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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