South Staffordshire glamping site granted premises licence to host eight large events a year
A South Staffordshire glamping site has been granted permission to hold up to eight large events a year despite residents’ concerns about noise and road safety.
Hideaway Glamping in Kinver has already hosted three music events using temporary notices (TENS) and South Staffordshire councillors were told there had been no complaints arising.
But a premises licence application, seeking consent for live and recorded music, film screenings, dance and play performances and alcohol sales up to 11pm on the day of each event sparked objections from five residents, as well as Kinver Parish Council and district councillor Paul Harrison. Their concerns include public nuisance and up to 499 people potentially being able to attend events, as well as potential disturbance to people visiting Comber Ridge Burial Ground on the other side of Church Road.
Councillor Harrison told a South Staffordshire District Council licensing sub-committee hearing on Tuesday (March 10) he had attended the site to discuss concerns with the applicants. He added: “It would be fair to say I am fairly assured of the intent of what is planned by the applicants.
“However, following the latest proposed conditions that arrived last week, I still have a couple of outstanding concerns I know are shared by the parish council. There isn’t any intent of nimbyism, we understand events have occurred before.
“But my outstanding concerns involve frequency of large events. I understand the applicant has reduced these from 12 to eight.
“The area where the site is is Green Belt on the edge of a village – it is a very quiet place. There are properties nearby and there is also the Kinver burial ground – nobody would want burials to be disturbed by events taking place across a lane.”
Resident Chris Hudson told the hearing: “I have no issues with the concept of events taking place. However, an event did overrun last time.
“It is a single track road and it is unlit; the location is extremely rural and passing places for cars are a challenge. After the last event I had people shining torches into my property.”
Rachel Cooper, partner of applicant Brett Taylor, confirmed they had received no complaints about previous events from residents or police however, and the over-running of a previous event was disputed. She added: “We have proved we have been able to successfully manage events with no issues.
“We have been operating for three years as a glamping site and we have vastly improved what was there already on site. We have operated under TENS in the past and we could have continued to do that, but we wanted to be transparent, upfront and show what we were doing.
“We anticipate some of the things finishing before 11pm and glampers can bring their own alcohol in already. We want to provide that in a more responsible way, providing a service on site, which is why we’ve asked to licence it.
“We want to be able to help support the council in their objective to increase tourism. And we want to provide something for the Kinver community themselves – they have lost a lot in recent years, such as the Scout ground and market.
“We love Kinver the same as everyone else and the three events we held had positive feedback from Kinver residents. We have already agreed we are very happy to liaise with the parish council to tell them when our events are.
“All three events we have held have been open to the community and all events are ticketed – they are not walk-in events. They have all been music events, but we are talking about an open air film screening; at the moment you have a 12-mile round trip from Kinver to access a cinema.”
The licensing sub-committee granted the premises licence for Hideaway Glamping, subject to series of conditions. The site is permitted to hold no more than eight large events per year and no more than eight small events per year.
The applicant must give at least one month’s notice of events by flier to nearby residents, Kinver Parish Council and the church. And the flier must include a contact number for residents to ring if they experience any issues on an event day.
The applicant was also asked to consider access and egress to the site and provision of overflow parking if required. Security staff should be instructed to request visitors leave the site quietly after events.
