A dance music festival taking place at a manor house in Sharnbrook this weekend has raised traffic and parking concerns among residents and the local councillor.
During Saturday’s Labyrinth Festival at Tofte Manor in Sharnbrook, residents of the High Street with no off-road parking risk receiving a parking ticket as the Council has implemented a ‘no waiting zone’.
A resident has pointed out that, with no on-site parking facilities, festival-goers will likely park on side streets instead, causing more inconvenience for residents.
According to the event organisers, this is the first time Tofte Manor has hosted a live music event.
It will take place on the picturesque grounds of the manor house, and performances will take place on stages in the gardens.
Sharnbrook councillor, Doug McMurdo (Independent), told the Bedford Independent that plans to host the music event have been afoot since 2019.
He said that at the time there were some concerns among residents over traffic and noise issues, particularly as the venue had had noise enforcement/compliance issues in 2016.
In 2019 an application was made for a premise license and a subsequent hearing was held on 14 January 2020 when the license was granted. This was before the global pandemic and ensuing lockdown.
In 2020, post lockdown 1, Tofte Manor/promoters applied for a TEN (temporary event notice) but subsequently withdrew this.
However, in April 2021, Bedford Borough Council let Cllr McMurdo know that the promoter was proceeding with events in July and August this year.
“Despite offers, to assist the organisers at a very early stage, they chose to ignore this,” said Cllr McMurdo.
“The traffic management plan goes some way to mitigate disruptions to the communities; however, the detail is unmanageable and leaves the Highway Authority open to legal and/or reputational risk if the traffic regulations are enforced.
“To date, there has been no will on the part of the Highway Authority to take input from the communities/Parish Councils – those who know the characteristics and dynamics of the community area best.”
He said the plan if executed as described, will bring about disruption for local residents, and he predicts some safety issues on the surrounding highways because of the poor design of the traffic management plan.
“I remain convinced many of the issues could have been avoided had the organisers and or relevant statutory agencies, communicated more effectively, and at an early stage,” he said.
In order to mitigate too much traffic through the village, organisers have requested that revellers either use one of the special festival shuttle buses from London or park in Bedford town centre and catch a taxi to Sharnbrook.
There is no parking on site.
A concerned resident contacted the Bedford Independent, saying: “The competence of the organiser’s traffic management team has to be questioned.
“They originally proposed “checkpoints” on all the roads coming into the village where drivers would be stopped and asked to prove they were not festival-goers before they would be allowed into the village.
“They are now “information points” where signage will ask festival-goers to not drive into the village but to go instead to the designated parking location and catch a shuttle bus to the event.
“There is absolutely no need for any ‘no waiting zone’ in the village.”
The Bedford Independent contacted the event organisers and the owners of Tofte Manor for a comment but neither of them responded in time for our deadline.
