A ‘family friendly’ festival is set to learn whether it will be granted a premises licence for a site in Barrow Park.

The Licensing sub-committee for Westmorland and Furness Council will consider an application from Coast Roads Music & Arts Festival Ltd for a premises license for a site within Barrow Park for the Coast Roads Festival when they meet on June 21.

The applicant has applied to the council for permission to play live music from midday to 11pm on Saturday and Sunday and to remain open to the public until 11:30pm. The two-day festival is planned for July 27 and 28.

Documents submitted by the applicant state: “The event is a medium scale, family friendly music and arts festival with a focus on supporting local emerging artists, engaging communities and local schools in the arts, and allowing people to appreciate the outdoors as part of the great British festival experience whilst enjoying the beautiful backdrop of Barrow Park.”

The initial listing features headliner Jake Bugg alongside Ibiza in Symphony, K-Klass, Jackmaster, and Kerrang'd.

Documents add: “Unlike the previous version of the festival, transport to and from the event can be through one of many well-established public transport links, enabling all customers to easily access the festival and minimise disruption to local communities.

“The event is relatively small compared to other festivals. It is marketed as a family friendly festival, featuring a mix of musical genres and styles focussed on exciting new UK artists and supporting local.”

However, the proposals have received several objections from local residents who raise concerns about the impact of the festival.

Objectors stated: “Our residential street has many families with young children. I cannot see how this event, finishing at 11.30pm, can be reconciled with the council’s policy of protecting children from harm if they are woken/kept awake late at night due to the event noise and public nuisance (drunk and disorderly behaviour).

“It is a matter of police and public record that Barrow Park has suffered damage to property and is considered an antisocial behaviour hotspot for young people and young adults and I am concerned this event will see an increase in underage drinking within the park (outside the event boundary).”

The objectors have proposed a series of conditions to mitigate the impact of the festival such as starting and finishing the event earlier (10.00am to 8.00pm) to reduce ‘public nuisance’.

In response to objectors concerns the applicant states: “Our intention is for all stages to finish on or before 22:30 with timings staggered to allow customers to exit the event and the event itself will cease at 23:00.

“The staggering of finishing times prevents all customers leaving at once and has worked well as a preventative measure in the past. Although the license application states 23:30, this additional time intended to allow ourselves and our staff to ensure that the area is completely cleared.”

The applicant adds: “We cannot provide comment on the existing potential issues regarding drug taking in the park, however we operate a strict zero tolerance policy to drugs. Anyone found to be in possession of, or using drugs, will be dealt with by our SIA licensed security team who will liaise with the local authorities.

“We have met with Cumbria Constabulary who have reviewed our license application and formally responded to say they do not wish to provide any objection to the premises license being awarded. We will continue to work closely with the police and council officials as we move closer to the festival to ensure that all licensing objectives are met.”

Members of the licensing sub-committee will discuss the application when they meet on June 21 at Barrow Town Hall.