Northamptonshire farm granted licence to host music festival and weddings

The farm was granted a licence yesterday morning

Long Furlong Farm in Catesby was granted the licence on Thursday morning (September 20), but local residents are concerned of the noise impact the festival may have.

The applicant, Mr Alistair Haigh, had applied for live music to be played in and outdoors between 11am and midnight as a wedding venue, and up until 2am over weekends as the music festival.

The farm could attract a capacity of up to 15,000 people, but it’s anticipated that only up to 10,000 will attend the first festival, a date for which has not been set.

Mark Worthington, speaking on behalf of the applicants, told Daventry District Council’s licensing committee: “The application has two main premises, which is to use the barns as a wedding venue and the fields for a music festival.“The barn has been refurbished and the surrounding area of the farm has been landscaped .“It has never been our intention to run it as a seven-day operation, it just gives us the flexibility for weekday events. We anticipate most events will be at the weekend.”

But 16 letters opposing the application were received and two parish councils were opposed, with three neighbours appearing at the meeting to register their concerns over noise the festival could create.

One resident said: “They are our neighbours and we respect their wish to go ahead with this business venture as a wedding venue for once or twice a week. The concerns are with the music festival.”

Another added: “I don’t think anyone should be kept awake, and I believe this application in its current form is inappropriate."

But Mr Worthington said that police and other statutory agencies had made ‘no representations’ regarding the application.

The owner, Mr Haigh, added: “We have been running a farm for 40 years and this is a progression as times have changed. We have friends who have done a similar thing and it’s been very successful for them. We tried to do a festival this year but couldn’t find the right people to work with. It’s diversification from farming, which we are being encouraged to do.”

The application was granted, although conditions were attached calling on the operators to attend a meeting with the Safety Advisory Group and abide by any decisions the SAG makes.