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Ronan Keating |
Axe falls on concerts at Kenwood
Two star acts face cancellations
CONCERTS at Kenwood House in Hampstead are to be cut this
summer from 10 to eight, a Town Hall licensing committee decided
this week.
Leading artists such as former Boyzone star Ronan Keating, singer
Art Garfunkel and Abba tribute band Bjorn Again have been lined
up to appear. Two of the star acts already booked will have
to be cancelled.
Red-faced organisers have sold tickets, at prices up to £38,
for the Saturday evening performances and produced adverts for
the shows. Axing the concerts could cost them thousands of pounds.
Yesterday (Wednesday) IMG, which organises the shows for English
Heritage, confirmed it would be lodging an immediate appeal
against the decision.
Licensing chiefs, including chairman Councillor Abdul Qadir
and councillors Sue Vincent and Dawn Somper, decided to cut
the number of concerts at a marathon four-hour hearing at the
Town Hall on Monday.
In addition, they have asked for the concert schedule to be
rearranged to allow residents a break from events every fortnight.
The decision was an unexpected victory for objectors who have
complained bitterly about excessive noise levels from the Kenwood
concerts. Many were present at the hearing.
Anita Morgan, who lives in Highgate West Hill, said: “On
occasions the noise is so loud we can hear it even with the
doors and windows closed. It is intolerable.”
But lawyer Michael Bromley-Martin, representing IMG and English
Heritage, told councillors that concert organisers had made
strenuous efforts to reduce noise levels, including employing
new noise consultants and creating a sound-proofed floating
stage.
He added: “The changes due to take place will almost certainly
ensure that noise levels are less than last year.”
In addition to axing two of the dates, licensing chiefs have
imposed an audience limit of 8,000 for each concert instead
of the 9,000 applied for. They have also asked IMG to set up
a manned telephone line during concerts to take complaints from
residents.
But the panel agreed to IMG’s request to increase the sound
limit at a monitoring point in Dancer’s End to 55 decibels
to bring it into line with three other monitoring points.
After the meeting, Paul Fishman, a music producer and writer
from Oakshott Avenue, Highgate, said the decision was a “terrible
thing for concert lovers”.
He added: “I find it simply staggering. It was a decision
that seemed to come from nowhere – they were discussing
noise levels, not reducing the number of concerts. It’s
restricting the programming and making it difficult for English
Heritage to run the place.”
He added: “No one’s bothered to ask the concert lovers.
They are too busy listening to a small group of objectors with
too much time on their hands. They are totally selfish.” |
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