SOME 2,000 revellers hope they’ve persuaded critics and councillors alike that a pop festival on the outskirts of Whittlesey is no bad thing.

The Organic Sounds Music Festival switched from their venue at Farcet Fen last year to a new home at Gildenburgh Water on the outskirts of Whittlesey and played to enthusiastic audiences throughout the weekend.

Fenland Council had held talks with organisers in advance and a council spokesman said several callers had expressed concerns.

“One of our environmental health officers has been out to the site this afternoon meeting the promoter to discuss the appropriate benchmark settings for noise levels to prevent any substantial noise or nuisance over the weekend,” a council spokesman said on Friday.

“We will have officers from licensing and environmental health on standby over the weekend to deal with any problems.”

Among the issues they dealt with was the muddy access road which was closed for a time whilst organisers re-laid it with straw bales.

One reader questioned “which council gave permission to have a music festival on the outskirts of Whittlesey? Who on earth were they thinking of?

“Certainly not the residents who live nearby. Over the weekend we have had two and a half days and evenings of head banging music intruding into our homes”.

Photographer Steve Williams who spent Saturday evening at the festival described it as “incredibly well run and trouble free”.

He said frequent down pours had made it difficult for festival goers but tough security- including body checks- had meant it passed without incident. “There were security searches and checks for weapons,” he said. “There was also a drug amnesty box on the entrance so that any that were found could be handed in.”

WERE YOU THERE? OR DO YOU LIVE NEARBY AND FOUND THE NOISE HARD TO LIVE WITH? Comments please to: john.elworthy@archant.co.uk