ORGANISERS of the Boomtown festival will be under the spotlight at this year’s four-day event starting tomorrow (Aug 8).

This year city council environmental health and licensing staff will be on site for the music festival that dubs itself “the UK’s maddest city”.

Last year the organisers breached licensing conditions and narrowly avoided being prosecuted by the city council.

Local city councillor Harry Verney said yesterday: “Judging by the meetings we have had with the landowner Peveril Bruce, he has taken things on board. If there are breaches he will find the licence is up for consideration.”

Licensing officer John Myall said: “We will have staff there for the duration. We want to make sure it goes off without any problems.”

Shanaz Jones, for Boomtown, said the festival this year has "invested a significant amount on sound-proofing tents. They have also been working closely with and sought advice from a range of noise and sound consultants including the UK’s leading experts in noise management.”

"Together they have created a strategy which includes the investment in a whole new approach to the sound system with inward facing speakers, as well as area modelling to calculate the exact orientations of all the stages and projected sound emissions.”

"This means that when the festival receives calls on the hot-line number (that has been set up specifically for local residents to use should they have any issues) we can identify where the sound leaks are coming from more efficiently and take action accordingly. We also have members of Winchester City Council who will be monitoring the noise on site for the duration of the festival so if we do break any parameters set by them we will be the first to know."

A hotline number for residents to contact organisers operates from August 8, on 01962 856502.

Gaps in the central reservation on the A31 are due to close from 7pm tonight until 7pm on Monday, August 12.

A 40mph speed limit on the A31 and A272 will be in force close to the site.

Sections of the South Downs Way, which cross the Matterley Estate, will be severed by security fencing and the path diverted.

On noise pollution organisers say it will be kept within legal limits and “significantly lower” after 11pm.

  • On Monday the city council licensing committee will consider an application by SD Events for a premises licence to run the Moto Cross GP on Matterley Estate between August 22-25.