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By SUNITA RAPPAI
 
Neighbours fear concerts will become even noisier

Warning that Kenwood House events will drive birds from Heath

LICENSING chiefs will sift through more than 35 letters of objection on Monday as they decide the fate of Kenwood House’s controversial summer music concerts in Hampstead.
Each of the outdoor concerts, held annually in the grounds of the Hampstead Lane house, can attract up to 10,000 visitors. This year’s line-up includes singer Art Garfunkel, Abba tribute band Bjorn Again and singer Russell Watson. Tickets cost up to £40 a head, with conservation body English Heritage taking a share of the profits.
Bosses at IMG, which organises the concerts on behalf of English Heritage, have applied for a new permanent licence valid for 10 days every summer.
The application includes plans for a new sound-proof floating stage, a pledge not to hold all-day concerts and proposals to cut one concert from the programme.
But plans to raise the noise limit, as monitored at Fitzroy Park, Highgate, have sparked protests from residents, who have written to licensing chiefs.
Graham Wallace, whose Fitzroy Park home overlooks the Heath, said: “The concerts have become increasingly noisy and make it impossible to enjoy our garden or house for many of the weekends in the summer. On top of the over-amplified music the fireworks can be deafening.”
John Hunt, chairman of Marylebone Bird Watching Society, said that two years ago noise from the concerts had driven out Hobbies, rare birds of prey who used to nest in the woods.
He added: “There will be an inevitable reduction of bird life in a wide area on the Heath.”
Tony Ghilchik, of the Heath and Hampstead Society, said: “The concerts need to be appropriate to the location within a residential area. Highly amplified concerts are not appropriate.”
Sir Charles and Lady Willink, who live in North Grove, Highgate, pointed out that “it is unlikely any of the persons going to previous concerts have complained of them not being loud enough”.
Sir Charles, a housemaster at public school Eton, added: “The proposal of a large floating platform occupying much of the concert pond will be an eyesore, spoiling a listed landscape.”
But in a letter supporting the application, Paul Fishman, who lives in Hampstead Lane, opposite Kenwood House, accused objectors of being petty.
He said: “When you consider the 11 concerts (out of 365 days) which last for a maximum of 2.5 hours each, I do not regard this to be an imposition, especially when they provide pleasure to so many other people.”
In a statement accompanying their application, IMG bosses say: “We and English Heritage are committed to ensuring the operation of Kenwood concerts does not unacceptably interfere with the personal comfort or enjoyment of life of the immediate neighbours in the nearby community.”
They added: “The Kenwood concerts strengthen the community. They are enjoyed by young, old, families, groups of friends and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.”
 
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