Cardiff Council has approved planning permission for the return of a controversial concert series

Kieran Molloy Local Democracy Reporter

Cardiff Council has approved planning permission for the return of a controversial concert series in the city’s largest park.

Blackweir Live 2025 was hailed as a major success for the city and attracted big names such as Kings of Leon, Alanis Morissette and Stevie Wonder, it also attracted controversy from groups who frequently use the Bute park on the grounds of noise, environmental impact and more.

As part of the application, the permission was granted to hold the event each summer up to August 2031.

In a break from last year, the council sought planning permission for this year’s event, which resulted in groups opposed to the concert series unsuccessfully attempting to get a Welsh Government call-in.

A Welsh Government call-in is a reserve power where Welsh Ministers take over a planning application submitted to a local authority and decide the outcome themselves.

During the meeting, Lyn Eynon of the Cardiff Civic Society made a representation against the gig series.

He said: “Bute Park was gifted for public enjoyment, not private events” and raised concerns about the impact of the summer event on the park’s natural environment and the cumulative effects of holding it summer after summer.

Mr Eynon urged the council to look for “alternative locations to Blackweir Fields” and criticised the council for allowing ticket sales before permission was granted, calling it “no way to conduct business.”

The agent speaking on behalf of the council said the mitigation strategies had been put in place to address concerns collected during the public consultation and that “Cardiff has a long history of hosting major music events” and that Blackweir Live would “help and promote Cardiff’s role as a cultural centre”.

During the debate, some councillors raised concerns over the length of time permission was granted for and the noise generated by the performances.

Cllr Jon Shimmin said, last year, he could hear the noise from his home in Penylan and his children [were complaining about not being able to sleep] because of the noise.”

Cllr Ali Ahmed said: “All of Cathays and the city centre will be affected by noise” and urged the raised a separate recommendation to only approve the event for 2026 – however that was not supported by any other councillors.

At multiple points during the debate, planning officers repeated that lessons had been learnt from last year’s event, an example given were the drop-off zones in the current plans which were absent in 2025.

Other councillors praised the previous Blackweir event, with Cllr Garry Hunt, who attended the Alanis Morissette concert last year, saying: “As a user of the facility last year, I must admit, in terms of a concert, I thought it was excellent.”

He continued that “the pluses far outweigh [the minuses]” of the event.

Cllr Michael Michael said: “[Blackweir Live 2025 was] a successful few concerts and lessons were learnt, mitigations have been put in place”.

He continued: “It’s difficult to find a site that pleases everyone… I think Blackweir lends itself to concerts.”

“Having longevity gives you the ability to plan ahead and not have to go through [the planning process] every year which, I think, would be a real pain.”

Despite a lengthy debate between councillors, the plans were ultimately approved with seven councils voting yes, one voting no and one abstaining.

Blackweir Live 2026 will run from June 24 to July 4 and will see The Cure, Lewis Capaldi, Pitbull and Teddy Swim perform.