Rural music festival prompts complaints
Concerns over noise level and 3am finishing time
Council officials have met with organisers of the Doune the Rabbit Hole music and arts festival after a number of complaints about this year’s event.
Fed-up constituents also contacted Trossachs and Teith councillor Martin Earl about the three-day event which took place last month at Cardross Estate, between Port of Menteith and Arnprior.
Noise levels and the festival’s finishing time of up to 3am are the main areas of concern but there were also complaints to Councillor Earl of “general disruption” and inadequate toilet arrangements.
Complaints have come from individuals living near the site and from the community councils in Arnprior and Port of Menteith.
Doune the Rabbit Hole, which bills itself as a `family-friendly festival’ with a capacity of around 1000, was first staged in 2010 in the grounds of Doune Castle but moved to Cardross five years ago.
This year’s event, between August 18 and 20, was dogged by bad weather and the late withdrawal of acts that had been due to appear.
Arnprior Community Council member Iain Breakenridge said they were not opposed to the festival but had been concerned about its noise levels and 3am finishing time for some time.
He said that while the village was two miles from the festival site, the topography of the land in between meant that the sound carried to homes there.
Mr Breakenridge was aware of residents living nearer the site who during the weekend of the festival went away because of its “window -rattling” noise levels.
“There were complaints from people within our community about the loud noise on the Saturday night of this year’s festival, but it has been a problem from the very beginning,” he added .
“It bills itself as a family-friendly festival but it goes on until 3am in the morning which seems out of sync with its rural location and with the finishing times of other events in the area.”
Mr Breakenridge said they were also unhappy over the failure of Stirling Council licensing officials to consult them when the licence for the event was submitted.
“They have told us they don’t have a statutory duty to consult community councils,” he added.
“Our point is that they have a community-based obligation to consult with the representative body for the area when we have members in our community who are living within a mile of the festival site.”
Former Arnprior Community Council chairman Ed Carrick, said: “We are not the Western Isles, but weekend is a time of rest and Sunday remains a day of rest so why must the festival go on until 3am in an entirely rural area. This festival might benefit the estate but it’s not benefiting the community.”
Jamie Murray
Councillor Martin Earl said: “There was also a lot of disruption in the weeks before and after the festival weekend.
“I am very concerned that the organisation this year was clearly very poor and it is my intention to refer any application for a festival next year to the council’s planning and regulation panel to ensure it receives appropriate scrutiny and that the conditions in place are strong enough.
“Any event needs to be properly run and be far more respectful of the residents in the area.”
The council’s community planning and regeneration convenor Chris Kane confirmed the authority had also received a number of complaints following the festival.
“We would like to assure the local community that we have since met with event organisers who have agreed to fully address all issues raised.
“We will continue to work with the event organisers to make sure all these issues are completely resolved in advance of any future events.”
Lady Nicola Orr-Ewing, who runs the estate with her husband Sir Archie Orr-Ewing, said this year’s festival was “perfectly adequately run”.
“It didn’t seem particularly noisy,” she added. “The weather conditions were appalling but the noise levels were much the same as in previous years and no more than they should be according to the council’s licence.
“The organiser was very punctilious about monitoring sound levels; they do them every half hour. We have had no complaints from people on the estate other than the normal complainers.”
Jamie Murray, artistic director of Doune the Rabbit Hole, said: “As an independent, grassroots event, we we work closely with organisations including Stirling Council, Arnprior and Port of Mentieth community councils to ensure residents are informed and agreeable to festival plans, that disturbance is minimal and that we are complying with all regulations.
“The noise generated was monitored at all times and was within the limit set by Stirling Council who also approved the licence times for the three nights.
“This year, the mostly volunteer team worked hard in challenging weather conditions to ensure the festival was to its usual organisational standard. Toilet facilities were maintained by an external company and we will be using a different contractor next year.”
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