Music festivals still possible despite row over turning Newcastle parks into ‘outdoor nightclubs’

Music festivals in Newcastle’s parks are still on the table despite a row with council bosses over noise, the charity in charge of the city’s green spaces says.

Newcastle City Council recently imposed a strict set of rules, including tighter noise limits and a requirement to give six months’ notice, on major events in Exhibition Park after a slew of complaints, which it has been claimed will make it impossible to put on massive concerts like This is Tomorrow.

But a boss at Urban Green Newcastle now says that music festivals “will play a part” in the future of the city’s parks.

It comes as the charity, which took control of 33 parks and more than 60 allotments from the council in 2019, finally announced a new chief executive after a protracted search.

Carol Pyrah, who has previously held senior positions at both English Heritage and Historic England, will take over the top job in July – replacing James Cross, who left the organisation last September.

Jon Riley, who has been Urban Green’s acting chief executive, spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service about the charitable trust’s future after the festivals furore, which has included complaints that parks were being turned into “outdoor nightclubs”.

He said it was “too early to say” if any maintenance work or smaller and unprofitable community events would have to be scaled back due to a loss of income from money-spinning concerts in Exhibition Park.

This is Tomorrow has been cancelled in 2022, though its organisers said that decision was down to rising costs and an “oversaturated market” rather than council’s new noise restrictions.

Asked if it was feasible for music festivals to return to Exhibition Park or other Urban Green spaces, Mr Riley said: “I think it is, but we are going to have a lot more discussion with the local authority. All the way through we have talked to them and we have both said it is about trying to find a balance and we are still trying to find that.”

A council hearing is scheduled in May to determine what restrictions will be put on an events licence in Leazes Park, which Mr Riley says he hopes will not be as “complicated” as the Exhibition Park row.

He also believes that emerging from the Covid pandemic will allow Urban Green to find new ways of generating much-needed income – including opening more cafes and regenerating empty buildings such as disused bowling pavilions.

The city council agreed to put in £9.5m to see Urban Green through its first decade, hoping that a charity would be better placed to run the parks after years of swingeing budget cuts at the civic centre.

It was hoped that Urban Green would become self-sufficient after 10 years and ultimately save local taxpayers up to £110m – but Mr Riley admits it is “impossible” to know if it will succeed in those aims.

He added: “The philosophy can’t just be to rely on the traditional way of funding parks and that is why we have been set up, but exactly how it looks and how far we get I don’t think anybody really knows.”

Ms Pyrah will take charge at Urban Green this summer and returns to the North East, having formerly been regional director of English Heritage.

She is currently executive director of the Historic Coventry Trust and Urban Green said she had a “wealth of experience in the charity, heritage and conservation sectors”.

Ms Pyrah said: “I am delighted to be joining Urban Green Newcastle at this exciting stage in its development and to be returning to the North East.

“If the pandemic taught us anything, it is the value of our local green spaces to the health and wellbeing of local communities. I am looking forward to leading the work to ensure that Newcastle’s parks and allotments are healthy, safe, welcoming places to be, and havens for biodiversity.”