THE host of the Boomtown festival looks set to be rebuffed in his plans to get permanent planning permission for the event.

Peveril Bruce wants approval for the festival and the Tough Mudder events on the Matterley Estate that he farms near Winchester.

Up until now the festival, which started in 2011, has only had temporary approvals, with the current one due to expire this December.

Campaigners see it as a last chance to halt the growth of Boomtown which last year had a licence for 65,000 people.

Planners at the South Downs National Park are to consider the application at its meeting in Midhurst, West Sussex, today.

A report is recommending that permanent permission be withheld and that a temporary approval for the next six years be approved.

However, the members of the committee do not have to accept the recommendations of their officers

Boomtown currently has permission for up to 65,000 people on site for the event held every August.

The application was highly controversial with 53 letters of objection. Parish councils objecting were Beauworth, Bishop’s Sutton, Tichborne, Bramdean and Hinton Ampner, Cheriton and Itchen Valley.

Campaigners claim that the festival site including performance, parking and camping areas is now larger than the town of Petersfield.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England also objected.

Meon Valley MP George Hollingbery in a letter said there is no doubt about the heavy impact of the event although he did not officially object.

But local MP Steve Brine, who lives in nearby Easton, wrote in support of the event.

There were 126 letters of support mostly from people living outside the area.

Many pointed out the economic boost for local shops and pubs.

This year’s festival is set to run between August 7 and August 12.

Headliners include American rapper, Ms Lauryn Hill, rap rock band, Prophets of Rage, alternative hip hop artists, The Streets and punk rock duo, Slaves.

The venue will be themed as a pop-up town, split into multiple ‘districts’ with a variety of musicians and other entertainers performing across 100 stages.