ORGANISERS behind some of the country’s biggest music festivals want to hold events for 70,000 people at Shoreham Airport.

SJM Concerts, the promoters behind V-Festival and Manchester’s Parklife event, want to use the airfield to hold concerts and festivals from as early as next year. The company has previously put on concerts for the likes of One Direction, The Stone Roses and Jessie J.

Events held at the airfield could be some of the biggest in the country. In comparison, V-Festival in Essex this year welcomed 85,000 revellers, Brighton Pride’s party in Preston Park had 33,000 people while Shakedown holds about 20,000.

The application comes after Rod Stewart wowed thousands of fans at the American Express Community Stadium in June.

SJM want permission to run events on the airfield from midday to as late as 3am, with alcohol served until 2am on Friday and Saturday nights.

Airport bosses say the move will be “extremely beneficial” to Shoreham and the surrounding area. But they stressed plans were at an early stage and any proposals would need thorough consultation with the public, police and transport chiefs.

Jonathan Candelon, managing director of Shoreham Airport, said: “We’ve explored use of the airport for various projects, including recently letting a film crew shoot a movie here, with the intention of raising its profile.

“One of the things we’ve also looked at is music events. If this plan with SJM is successful, it will be extremely beneficial to the local area. But it’s in the early stages and there are a lot of rigorous licensing processes to go through first to ensure it is fit for purpose.”

However concerns have been raised that SJM’s application for a premises licence has gone relatively under the radar. Public feedback or representation on the application, which is on Adur and Worthing Borough Council’s website, ends today.

Gerard Rosenberg, of the Shoreham Society, said he was “extremely unhappy” as he feels residents had not yet been consulted over the plans or alerted to its existence.

He said: “It’s not good enough. I haven’t got an opinion on the event itself yet, but my first thoughts are that I support cultural events at the airport but I would be concerned about traffic and infrastructure.

“But it’s not good enough that literally nobody knows about it apart from the promoters and the airport management. I will be calling on the council to extend the deadline for public representation.”

Adur Councillor Liz Haywood, who represents Mash Barn ward, agreed the application had “very much gone under the radar.”

She added: “I’ve not heard a thing about it but I will consult with other councillors.”