Legal threat over music events on Downs

A group of north Bristol residents has threatened legal action if another loud music festival takes place beside Sea Walls on the Downs.

Conservative councillor for Stoke Bishop John Goulandris asked this week whether the threat would change plans for future events on the Downs, and was told by the statutory decision-making body it might.

It comes after two music festivals were held on the grassland in front of Sea Walls in the first weekend of September last year, with a live line-up featuring the IDLES on the Friday followed by multi-genre spectacle Love Saves the Day over the next two days.

The event, organised by Team Love, was a one-off replacement for the annual Downs Festival after Love Saves the Day moved from its usual home of Eastville Park.

An early official assessment of the event was “overwhelmingly positive”, but it later emerged that a number of residents unhappy about the noise had not lodged official complaints.

The Downs is at the centre of recent conversations which call for the Merchant Venturers to give the site up – photo: Martin Booth

The Downs Committee, comprising an equal number of city councillors and members of the Society of Merchant Venturers, raises money to manage the Downs by hiring it out for events, but its debts are paid by Bristol City Council.

Goulandris, whose constituency includes the affluent suburb of Sneyd Park by Sea Walls, told fellow committee members on Monday, January 24: “The Downs concert is obviously the big event for the Downs and it raises a lot of money, but it’s obviously not without its problems.

“Tom [Paine] with Team Love has met with a number of groups of residents, and I think he met with one particular group recently who are considering legal action against the Downs Committee if the concert carries on at the same site.

Committee vice-chair, Master Merchant Venturer David Freed, said the land in front of Sea Walls was the “obvious” and “easiest” part of the Downs to hold the Downs Festival.

“It’s the area where you cause the least damage through having that event,” he said.

“Nevertheless, there’s a noise issue. So we are, I believe, looking at other locations. We are looking hard.”

The Downs Festival 2018 was closed by Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller – photo: Simon Boddy

The committee heard that Merchant Venturer Jonathan Baker had been “heavily involved” in discussions within the committee, including talks with “people in Sneyd Park”.

Mr Baker said: “The meeting we had was very constructive and the noise report that is attached to the minutes should be read in conjunction with the sympathy that the committee has of the drum effect that was caused to people’s houses.”

An independent acoustic report to the meeting showed noise levels reaching around 100dB at the four stages over the three-day event in September.

Mr Baker continued: “The concert was a different form of music than was traditionally held on the Downs, and that genre of music will not be revisiting that site.”

He added a “decision has been made” that neither Sneyd Park nor the Sea Walls site would be the “default position” for an event for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in acknowledgement of residents’ concerns.

Lord Mayor of Bristol, Conservative councillor Steve Smith, who chairs the committee, clarified that “the ultimate decision on the programme of what goes where” would be made by a subgroup of committee handling events and finance.

“The difficulty we have as the Downs Committee is we don’t run events,” Smith said.

“The events are all run by third parties who come to us and say we would like to use this land to do this thing.”

Mr Freed added: “It is in the main, driven by the market. People have got something they want to do, and they think the Downs would be a great place to do it, then they can come and ask the question and then go through the normal licensing issues and thoughts about impact on the local community, impact on other people who are using the Downs.”

Love Saves the Day will be held at Ashton Court next year.

Love Saves the Day has previously taken place in Castle Park, Eastville Park and the Downs – photo: Julian Preece

Main photo by the Downs Festival

Read more: Renewed calls for Merchant Venturers to relinquish control of the Downs

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: