Bristol City Council allows Sequences Festival amid noise fears

The festival is being held at Bristol's Greville Smyth Park and will have a capacity of 8,000 people a day

An open-air music festival has been given permission to go ahead after its organiser agreed to adhere to 112 strict conditions and volume monitoring.

Bristol City Council made the decision after considering complaints about the plans from nearby residents.

The council said noise levels must not exceed 70 decibels from 16:30 BST and 72 decibels after 19:30.

Sequences Festival will be held in Greville Smyth Park on 24 and 25 July.

Slammin Events initially applied for an annual event across three years, but then scaled back their plans after 190 residents who live near the Southville park complained in a survey.

Southville resident Matthew Gibbs told the council, in an independently conducted survey, residents had expressed concerns that the noise could have a negative impact on children's sleep and the event could affect access for emergency vehicles in surrounding streets.

Compromise over noise

Organisers asked for noise levels to be permitted to rise to 75 decibels outside the nearest homes, saying it was the same as that for concerts held at nearby Ashton Gate Stadium.

But the local authority's environmental health officers said 65 decibels would be more appropriate, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Dylan Davies, the city council's senior environmental health officer, said: "The problem is residents are relatively close to the event area so it is a very restricted site."

Slammin Events solicitor Matthew Phipps said that if the festival's organisers made a "pig's ear of it", it would undermine their ability to gain a licence for future years.

"What we are saying is give us a go," he said.

Granting the licence with revised conditions, sub-committee chairman Paul Goggin said the decision was a compromise over noise levels.