Wandle Park music festival plans slammed by neighbours

On Monday (June 10) Croydon Council’s licensing committee considered plans for Our Thing Global (OTG) Entertainment in Wandle Park on July 20, 2024.

This is the first time OTG have applied for a licence to host the event in Wandle Park, but events have been hosted in that park in previous years.

The applicant, Ramone Roper, wants a license to play live music in the park from 1pm to 9pm, and sell alcohol from 1pm to 8.30pm.

A resident on Vicarage Road, directly behind Wandle Park, spoke in opposition to the event.

She said: “Residents complained in 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024 about the events that took place in Wandle Park, and many of us felt imprisoned by the noise.”

She explained that herself and her neighbours had to close all their doors and windows on those particular hot days.

She questioned whether the organisers knew what the event was causing neighbours.

She added: “My husband has been quite ill and I have high blood pressure, so this continuous noise contributes to extreme stress and anxiety.”

The objector added that the residents have been subjected to a “tremendous amount of noise” despite being assured of controlled sound levels over the years.

The objector said this noise “deprives us of our quiet enjoyment in our own property”.

She added: “The music blares so loudly that my windows and doors are rattling in spite of my double glazing.

“And the smell of marijuana keeps wafting into my home and it makes me feel quite sick.

“Apart from the knife crime and stabbings in Croydon, there do seem to be quite a few incidents in the area, resulting in a heavy police presence.

“There are so many drug deals that seem to be taking place in the area, which is made worse by the event.”

She also claimed that a lot of people parked their cars outside of her home with “menacing looks”.

She said that she received abuse by someone who parked on Vicarage Road but didn’t live there.

The objector said: “I felt he was going to get out of the car and hit me, but he sped off before I could get help.”

She also said that in past years her front garden had been littered with rubbish from attendees of the event and had to step over vomit.

Cllr Margaret Bird asked the objector if she sees many security guards outside of Wandle Park.

The objector said that she sees police but claims that they’ve told her there’s nothing they can do and she has to speak to the event organisers if she has complaints.

The objector added: “There is also people who are meant to direct cars but they pretty much turn a blind eye.”

Calvin Hanks, the health and safety for OTG Entertainment, spoke on behalf of Mr Roper, and started by saying: “Parking is not a licencing objective.”

Chairwoman Cllr Patsy Cummings said that it is generally best for the applicant to work with neighbours.

Mr Hanks said: “Mr Roper works with the community and hand-delivered letters to them about the noise.”

He added: “There will be a noise hotline to assure appropriate noise level.

“We will have two noise advisers out on the day measuring the noise, who will be there on site attending to the noise.”

Mr Hanks said that anything outside of the park is “outside our sphere of control” but they are looking to “engage with the authorities and the police to assure neighbours aren’t disturbed by the noise”.

Mr Hanks felt the objections made about the music being a disturbance were “exaggerated”, stating that the “music will go on only till 9pm, and won’t go past that time”.

He added that he and the organisers would happily go to any location with concerns and take actions if the noise level is too high.

Mr Hanks finished with: “Any drug action go to the police and we have no control over this.”

Cllr Bird spoke directly to Mr Roper about the number of Service Industry Authority (SIA) bodies.

Mr Roper said that there would be a ratio of one SIA body to every 50 guests.

With 5,000 people expected to attend the event, this will mean 100 SIA bodies will be there.

Mr Roper added: “There will be a designated head of security, and they will prevent people from entering with open bottles.

“Nobody will be allowed in with a bag bigger than an A4 sheet of paper so they can’t hide anything.”

Cllr Bird asked Mr Roper how he would prevent any drugs from being brought into Wandle Park.

Mr Roper said that there will be security and sniffer dogs in Wandle Park who would be able to detect any drugs.

Cllr Mohammed Islam asked Tavni Patel, the event and site manager of OTG entertainment, about what they would be doing in terms of drivers’ safety.

Ms Patel said: “We don’t want people to drive, and we have advised visitors to use public transport to get there.

“We are actively discouraging people to drive to the event and have posted on our socials routes to get to Wandle Park.”

Cllr Islam ended with his own concerns about the noise, particularly the direction that the music would be playing in, but Mr Roper assured the committee that the noise would “disappear into the green and not towards residents’ homes.

The objector ended by saying: “Every time these events come and I’m told it won’t disrupt me, it always does.

“I’m not happy about the upcoming event; it sounds so disruptive.”

Mr Roper understood her concern and ended by saying: “Not everybody will be happy.”

Chairwoman Cllr Cummings concluded that the committee would return with a decision by June 17.