Seaton Carew beer festival is approved despite concerns from Hartlepool police and council bosses

A temporary event notice had been submitted to Hartlepool Borough Council for the festival to be held on Saturday, June 1, at Hornby Park, home of Seaton Carew Community and Sports, in Elizabeth Way.

The application, from Andrew Reece, stated the Seaton Carew Beer Festival would run from 12.30pm until 10pm and the site would be licensed to sell alcohol during those hours.

It adds they will also hold live music on the day with four sets from different artists planned between 1pm and 10pm.

Added attractions will include food vendors and children’s inflatables.

The council’s licensing sub-committee met to hear concerns from police and environmental health officers over the planned event.

Councillors ultimately decided to give the it the go-ahead, noting they were “reassured” by organisers stating they will work with a safety group in organising the day.

Monica Vaughan, director of Hornby Park, said the event would be ticketed, with 450 on sale, while security staff will be in place and noise checks will be made throughout the day.

She added: “Many of the locals in Seaton have expressed their support for the event.

“Whilst we haven’t run a beer festival before, we have safely run, for over 20 years, several fun days on our site with up to 1,000 people and we have never had any trouble or issues during these events.”

However, Zoe Craig, council environmental health manager, raised concerns there had been a “fundamental failure” in demonstrating how licensing objectives would be met, particularly regarding managing noise issues.

She said: “Regrettably the applicant has not satisfactorily addressed these concerns.”

Clare Lawton, from Cleveland Police, said they had worries around security, safety, and steps being taken to prevent crime and disorder during the event which had not been addressed.

She added: “I do not want this event not to go ahead, I just want this event to go ahead safely.”

Ms Vaughan admitted they had been “naive” in their temporary event application, noting they had never submitted one before, but stressed numerous measures will be in place to ensure it runs safely.

She added they will work with an independent safety advisory group to produce a full event management plan and appropriate risk assessments.