Cannock Chase live music events to double to eight per year
Organisers of the annual live music events at Cannock Chase will now be able to host double the number of gigs previously allowed – despite villagers living nearby raising concerns about noise and traffic.
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Residents of Slitting Mill also raised concerns that the section of Cannock Chase closed to the public during the Forest Live events will be shut for longer each year.
But Forestry England, which manages the woodland, was granted a new licence by Cannock Chase District Council on Monday, December 16 which will enable it to hold up to eight days of events each year.
This is double the four per year previously allowed and will also be extended to allow film screenings as well as live music.
Permission has also been sought to increase capacity from 8,300 people to 9,999 and increase the site area by 20 per cent to accommodate the extra gig-goers.
Phil Crier, who spoke on behalf of Forestry England at Monday’s licensing sub-committee hearing, said the events were an important source of revenue to help manage the forest, located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), for current and future visitors.
He said: “The concerts allow customers to enjoy live music and performance in a very attractive and appealing setting.
"This in itself has a secondary benefit of encouraging those who attend the concerts to come back to the forest with their children on another day to enjoy the trails and other areas, and a number of people who attend the concerts use the bars and cafes and shops in the local area.
“The increased number of event days enables us to achieve a greater flexibility for the booking of artists.
"The second action is to achieve a better value from the costs involved, which are considerable in constructing the stage area, sanitary facilities, transport management, fencing around the site, staffing and security.”
The sub-committee was told that there were conditions in place to limit sound levels that could be detected from the nearest noise sensitive properties to the site, as well as time restrictions preventing construction traffic using local roads between 8pm and 8am during the event set up process. A shuttle bus service was also introduced for this year’s events to encourage concert-goers to travel to the site from Cannock instead of driving directly to the site, which was used by around 900 people.
Forestry England initially requested permission to hold eight event days between June and September each year, with late night refreshment being served until; midnight at events.
This was later amended to events taking place between June and August and late night refreshment until 11.30pm.
