We hate huge music festival held every year right next to our homes by £148m Lotto winner – it’s like a mini Glastonbury
NOISE from a rock festival held on a Lotto winner’s sprawling estate has left neighbours furious.
They say sound from The Cambridge Rock Festival is so “intolerable” it could cause “severe disturbance to peace and sleep”.
The event is held near Linton, Cambs, on the Horseheath Lodge Estate, owned by Adrian Bayford.
He and ex-wife Gillian won £148million in 2012, at the time bagging the second biggest Euromillions jackpot ever won by Brits.
The festival – which councillors insist is “family friendly” – has taken place at the £12million, 90-acre estate twice before in 2017 and 2018.
But the four-day concert was cancelled this year after organisers were told they would need a permanent license to continue holding the gig.
Following a consultation, South Cambridgeshire District Council has given permission for the gig in 2024, CambridgeshireLive reports.
It will allow up to 1,500 people to watch live music and buy alcohol between 11am and 11pm.
Linton Parish Council objected to the application for the annual event, arguing the festival could cause “severe disturbance to peace and sleep”.
Councillor John Bald said playing amplified music outside until 11pm “does have potential to create nuisance”.
He added: “It is almost a mini Glastonbury, taking a farm site and using it in this way seems to us frankly unsuitable.
“No one objects to an afternoon festival, but going on late at night is a legitimate concern for residents.”
Others blasted organisers as having “no effective prevention to control it once this starts“.
In previous years, residents claimed they have tried to lodge noise complaints but say the council don’t answer the phones.
But these fears have been rubbished by other councillors who said concerns were based on other events in the area.
And no objections to the plans were raised by police, the Cambridgeshire County Council highways team, environmental health, the fire service, or trading standards.
Organiser David Roberts, from RBF Festivals Limited, said the festival was a “family friendly” event offering a “huge range” of music from flute bands to rockers.
And he said systems used across the three stages are similar to those used at a “village hall event.”