Music festival application withdrawn following objections

Twm Owen, local democracy reporter
A hearing to decide whether a music festival can go ahead in the Gwent countryside closed in under 10 minutes, with immediate objections from both the council and police.
Two police officers and a barrister representing Gwent Police attended the hearing at Monmouthshire County Hall, in Usk, which closed just minutes after opening.
The application was for a small music festival, expected to draw some 200 to 300 people to Old Castle Court Farm at Crucorney near Pandy north of Abergavenny, where there would also be camping.
‘Public nuisance’
GemFest has been staged, since 2023, in Herefordshire and no issues reported to the local police or council for the event which was granted a temporary event notice and a premises licence last year.
Sam Southan, one of four organisers, applied to stage the festival from Friday, June 13 to Sunday, June 15 this year with live music and alcohol and sales until 4am on the Saturday and Sunday mornings, though all activities would have finished at 12 am on the Sunday, with no licensable activities past 0.00 hours on Monday, June 16.
The council’s environmental health department objected, as it said no site plan had been provided and it was concerned about potential noise with houses within 500 metres of the field.
Environmental health officer, Huw Owen, also said no information on noise levels, mitigations or the “intended music type” had been provided.
His objection said there is “clearly the potential for disturbance from music during late night hours and a breach of licensing objective the ‘prevention of public nuisance’.”
Gwent Police said no plans or risk assessments it would expect for an event over multiple days had been provided, and also objected.
Chance to resubmit
When council licensing officer Linda O’Gorman asked Mr Southan, who attended the meeting remotely with fellow organiser Sam Morgan, if he was happy to go ahead without legal representation, he asked for the chance to resubmit the application.
Mr Southan said: “Previously in Herefordshire they’ve always been more casual meetings. I think we’ve misunderstood how formal this would be.”
He apologised for the confusion and asked if he could resubmit the application to avoid “wasting anyone’s time”, which was accepted.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.