Villagers' anger at Beachdown (From The Argus)
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Villagers' anger at Beachdown
3:00pm Wednesday 26th November 2008 in Search By Andy Chiles
Organisers of the Beachdown Festival hope that it will grow every year
A festival tipped to become the “new Glastonbury” by organisers has provoked a wave of opposition from its neighbours.
Villagers in Fulking, near Brighton, have labelled the Beachdown Festival, which was held for the first time this summer at Devil’s Dyke, as an accident waiting to happen.
Richard Corner, a member of the village’s parish council, said: “They got away with it because it rained and people stayed away.
“What will happen this time if it’s sunny and thousands of people head down from London thinking there’s a rave on the Downs they can get into?”
About 10,000 people went to the first four-day festival during the August Bank Holiday, many of them camping in wet and windy conditions.
Organiser Joe Pidgeon declared the event a success and spoke of his desire to make Beachdown a festival to rival Glastonbury.
He said 15,000 tickets would be sold for the 2009 event and the numbers could grow each year.
A seven-year agreement is in place with the site’s owners.
Organisers have submitted an application to Mid Sussex District Council for a licence to stage next year’s event.
Mr Corner said the festival site on the South Downs was “dangerously hilly” and had led to a number of the estimated crowd of 10,000 injuring themselves.
Fulking Parish Council will hold a public meeting tonight before formalising its response to the application.
Councillor Gina Field, who represents the Fulking area on Mid Sussex District Council, said there was a long list of concerns raised by the first staging of the festival. She said: “Many of these affect public safety. Yet on the organisers’ website they claim there were no problems of organisation whatsoever.”
A spokeswoman for Beachdown said: “Organisers worked closely with environmental health officers from Mid Sussex District Council and we were well within guidelines set by council officers throughout the festival."
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