COUNTRYSIDE campaigners are stepping up their battle to stop Boomtown being given permanent permission.

The music event started today at Matterley Estate east of Winchester, after a three-year break due to Covid.

The South Downs Network (SDN) is highlighting a long-running planning application to the national park planning authority dating back to 2021. The proposal is to end the regular applications for permission and instead grant ongoing planning permission on the 1,100-acre site.

The campaigners believe a decision may be made as soon as next month and want to remind the public that it is imminent.

The network, whose members include The Campaign for Rural England (Hampshire & Sussex), The Upper Itchen Valley Society, the Open Spaces Society ,Hampshire Area Ramblers, Friends of the Earth, RSPB, Friends of the South Downs (South Downs Society), the National Trust and the Petersfield Society.

Network chairman Dr Tony Whitbread, an ecologist, said: “Boomtown sounds appalling to me, I am not sure what the National Park are playing at!”

Vic Ient, a spokesman for the SDN, said: “Villages and communities in the surrounding area will be very disappointed that the natural beauty, relative tranquillity and dark night skies of this beautiful area will be desecrated again.

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“We think that the public should be made aware that the festival operators only have a short-term “temporary” permission, and that there is an opportunity to let the planners know whether or not or not they think that they want this festival to continue in a national park. We fear some people may just think, oh well, they already have permission, so nothing we (the public), can do nothing.

“For all those festival goers, we would hope they could appreciate that an open-air event can still happen, but not in a National Park which were not created to house such events.

Mr Ient said the roads in the area will be congested with traffic with visitors’ cars bringing greater pollution and higher levels of CO2 emissions. “Already the Downs have been changed out of all recognition to a construction site surrounded by a 3.4 metre high impenetrable ‘wall’, presumably to ensure that no one gets in without paying the £250 fee for attending!”

The campaigners say the event impacts on flora and fauna including skylarks, bats and butterflies and will damage a site of special scientific interest, the slopes blow Cheesefoot Head.

“After this event Boomtown have another two years’ planning permission to operate a festival granted by the South Downs National Park in 2019. But there might be worse to come for local communities, wildlife and plant life. The Boomtown company is applying for a permanent planning permission for this 1,100 acres of the National Park into what could become a Theme Park.”

The SDN is calling for a refusal of planning permission since there is no precedent for a permanent festival site in any national park anywhere in the country.

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It predicts that the event will grow from the current 76,000 up to a potential 200,000.

Eight parish councils have lodged objections as have the CPRE and the Friends of the South Downs. Natural England have recently raised serious concerns in their submissions to the planners over potential pollution of the River Itchen and impact on wildlife habitats.

To see more go to: https://planningpublicaccess.southdowns.gov.uk/online-applications/ and just enter the application number: SDNP/21/00290/FUL.

In a statement the directors of Boomtown said: "Here at Boomtown one of the very core pillars which run through our brand is Respect. Respect for ourselves, each other and the planet.  As such, we are founding members of a Green deal to become one of the country's very first Net Zero festivals by 2025. The environment is embedded into every decision we make as a business.

"We have applied for temporary planning over a period of six years. We are one of the only festivals in the UK, which needs to do this in addition to our licence. This is because of the time it takes to build our living theatre for the world to enjoy.

"The South Downs National Park is a SSSI, which we work very hard to protect. Butterfly breeding areas are entirely fenced off and we have only increased this, this year. We continue to work closely with the land owner to achieve all planing goals around environment and landscape aspects of the planning conditions, not only because they are enforced, but because we want to.

"We do understand that our show could cause inconvenience over the weekend, but Boomtown already sits on one of the busiest roads in the country in terms of numbers. Added to that, the financial rise for the local economy and community is something we are very proud of.

"For the purpose of the build, we are using vegetable oil. We have compost toilets positioned across the entire site and recycle bins in all locations.

"We have never proposed a planning application of 200k. The application is for 76k, it is temporary and we will need to reapply at the end of the six year term."