Plans for new music festival withdrawn

Thoulstone Park was formerly a golf club

Organisers have withdrawn plans for a music festival after concerns about noise were raised.

Bottlefest organisers had applied for permission to stage an event at Thoulstone Park in Chapmanslade, between Westbury and Warminster, from 20 to 22 September.

The application was due to be discussed at a Wiltshire Council meeting later but has now been withdrawn. An objection was already lodged by the council's environmental control and protection team.

Bottlefest co-founder, Adam Forrester, previously said up to 275 people would attend, and organisers would ensure "minimal disruption".

Mr Forrester had also said music would be inaudible to those off-site after 23:00 BST, and a phone line would be available for residents in the case of any issues.

Nevertheless, the council's environmental control and protection team objected to the plans, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Bottlefest organisers were told: "We have decided we have to object to the application because, in 2023, an event with similar timings took place under a temporary events notice (TEN) .

“Despite there being a Noise Management Plan (NMP) in place this department received 29 complaints from residents about disturbance from music noise."

'Unreasonable disturbance'

The team added that officers from the department carried out monitoring during the event and found "music levels to be excessive and not managed in accordance with the NMP".

“It is appreciated your application states music will not be audible off-site after 23:00," they added.

“However we have no evidence to show how, or give us confidence that this will be effectively managed.

“In addition to this music before 23:00 can cause unreasonable disturbance to people living nearby and there is no evidence supplied to demonstrate how these noise levels will be controlled.”

Bottlefest started with five friends wanting to host a festival, and now the team also stages themed events throughout the year.

Thoulstone Park was first used as a venue for a music festival for The Sunrise Festival in 2013, with Get On Festival generating local noise complaints in August 2023.

In October 2023, the owners of Thoulstone Park, Mr and Mrs Hughes-Hallett, were denied a premises license for events of up to 499 people, with amplified music and sales of alcohol between the hours of 8:00 and 23:00.