Farm park granted music and alcohol licence

The licence allows the venue to sell alcohol from a mobile bar and in its gift shop

A visitor attraction has been given permission to play music and serve alcohol despite concerns from villagers and holiday lodge owners that the venue could become a "mini-Glastonbury Festival".

Monk Park Farm, near Thirsk, applied to North Yorkshire Council for a licence to hold events for up to 5,000 people.

It has been granted a premises licence, which means it can play music and serve alcohol from 10:00 to 22:00 on up to 250 days a year.

Mark Navin, general manager at the venue, told the licensing committee that he wanted to create "create new seasonal events and attract new audiences", while protecting the farm's reputation as a safe, family-focused venue.

"The purpose of this license is to expand the program of events throughout the year, typically at Easter, summer, Halloween and Christmas, along with the occasional themed evenings that bring people together in a manageable setting," Mr Navin said.

The licence allows the venue to sell alcohol from a mobile bar and in its gift shop.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Navin said the attraction had trialled a small number of events using temporary licences this year.

He told a council meeting that all of these events were ticketed, with no reports of anti-social behaviour, noise complaints or welfare concerns.

"Evidence suggests an average of less than one alcoholic drink per person was consumed on the adult nights and less than half of this again on the family evening events." Mr Navin said.

'Peace and quiet'

Several people spoke in opposition to the application at the meeting at County Hall in Northallerton.

Councillor Alyson Baker, whose division includes several villages near to Monk Park, said she was concerned about the "future direction of travel" for the venue.

"There are those of us who can remember when Lightwater Valley was a farm and Flamingo Land was a zoo," she said.

"I'm concerned that this application is the start of a slippery slope which will have a huge impact on the communities I represent."

Visitors to the area who own or rent holiday homes and caravans at parks near the attraction also filed concerns about the licence.

Several people also said they had worries about terrorism and illegal drugs being consumed at the attraction.

Simon Catterall, of legal firm Jacksons, represents a group of about 40 local residents and lodge owners.

He said the proposed application would allow activities that met the criteria of being a public nuisance in an area made famous by author James Herriot.

He said people "come to this place for the unique peace and quiet, and to get away from everything", and the proposed activities would threaten that.

However, the three-member licensing panel granted the licence.

They imposed a condition that a "noise hotline" should be set up to allow local residents to report complaints during events.

The applicant was told they must also inform local parish councils about scheduled events.

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