south west four weekender 2020 · 2020-06-25 · south west four weekender 2020 – noise...

38 Briton Hill Road, South Croydon, London, CR2 0JL

[email protected] +44 1227 770 890 f1acoustics.com

F1 Acoustics Company Limited, company number: 8113982 (England and Wales).

Registered address: Eagle House, Cranleigh Close, South Croydon, Surrey, England, CR2 9LH.

South West Four Weekender 2020

Noise Management Plan

Festival Republic Limited

Revision 2

13 May 2020

Role Name Position Signature Date

Author Robert Miller BSc (Hons) MIOA

Director 13/05/2020

Reviewer Rupert Burton BSc (Hons) MIOA

Director 13/05/2020

Revision Date Reason

0 27/02/2020 Issue. 1 04/05/2020 Update for Premises Licence application. 2 13/05/2020 Minor updates.

The preparation of this report by F1 Acoustics Company Ltd has been undertaken within the terms of the Brief using all reasonable skill and care. F1 Acoustics Company Ltd accepts no responsibility for data provided by other bodies and no legal liability arising from the use by other persons of data or opinions contained in this report. Publication of this report for any reason other than its intended and agreed purpose is strictly prohibited without written permission from F1 Acoustics Company Ltd and the named Client.

All rights reserved and Copyright F1 Acoustics Company Ltd 2020.

This noise management plan is Commercial in Confidence. Any disclosure, in part or in full, will lead to damage of F1 Acoustics Company Limited's 'trade secrets' including, but not limited to, specific protocols and procedures on how sound control and noise management is planned and implemented at this event.

Annex C

mailto:[email protected]

South West Four Weekender 2020 – Noise Management Plan

F1 Acoustics Company Limited Page ii of ii 13/05/2020 1482/SW4-NMP/Rev2

Contents

1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Appointment ........................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 F1 Acoustics Company Limited Experience ............................................................................. 1

2 Premises Licence Conditions ........................................................................................................... 2

3 Site, Environs and Details of the Event ........................................................................................... 3

3.1 Site Location ............................................................................................................................ 3

3.2 A State of Trance 950 .............................................................................................................. 3

3.3 South West Four Weekender 2020 ......................................................................................... 4

4 Sound Control Procedure ................................................................................................................ 5

4.1 Personnel ................................................................................................................................ 5

4.2 Sound Control Programme ..................................................................................................... 5

Tables

Table 2.1: Music Noise Level Limits at Designated Monitoring Locations………………..………………………. 2

Table 3.1: A State of Trance 950 Stage Information and Opening and Curfew Times………………………. 3

Table 3.2: South West Four Weekender 2020 Stage Information and Opening and Curfew Times….. 4

Figures

Figure 1: Noise Monitoring Locations

Figure 2: Event Site Layout Plan

Appendices

Appendix A: Glossary of Acoustic Terms

Appendix B: Residents Information Letter Distribution Map

Appendix C: Sample Complaint Log


F1 Acoustics Company Limited Page 1 of 9 13/05/2020 1482/SW4-NMP/Rev2

1 Introduction

1.1 Appointment

1.1.1 F1 Acoustics Company Limited (F1AC) has been appointed by Festival Republic Limited

(FR) to provide sound control management at Clapham Common, London, for events to

be held from Friday 28th August 2020 to Sunday 30th August 2020 for A State of Trance

950 (Friday) and the South West Four Weekender 2020 (Saturday and Sunday).

1.1.2 This Noise Management Plan (NMP) contains details of the noise management strategies

that will be executed by F1AC, on behalf of FR, to assist with compliance of the sections

relating to noise in the Premises Licence issued by the Licencing Authority at the London

Borough of Lambeth (LBL).

1.2 F1 Acoustics Company Limited Experience

1.2.1 The company F1AC was established in July 2012 by Rupert Burton and Robert Miller and

specialises in the entertainment sector providing planning and licencing advice to clients

operating events and venues with live and recorded music on the sound control and

noise management to achieve regulatory compliance.

1.2.2 Rupert and Robert each have over ten years of experience in the licencing and

entertainment sector relating to acoustics, including providing sound control and noise

management services at over 250 indoor and outdoor festivals and events ranging in

capacity from 500 to 100,000+. They are both Members of the Institute of Acoustics.

1.2.3 F1AC has provided sound control services at events such as South West Four (2019),

Glastonbury Festival, Boomtown, Download, Detonate, Latitude, Kendal Calling and

many more music festivals across the UK.

1.2.4 F1AC has significant experience in: liaison with local licensing authorities; baseline noise

assessments; venue assessment; noise management plans; assessments of event

feasibility; expert witness at planning and licencing hearings; event sound monitoring

and management for licence compliance; and event noise modelling and prediction.



2 Premises Licence Conditions

2.1.1 The 2019 Clapham Common Premises Licence conditions relevant to noise are

reproduced in Table 2.1 below and are expected to remain similar for 2020. The music

noise level (MNL) limits reflect LBL Policy Guidance on the control of sound at out-door

events [1] and the conditions attached after a Premises Licence Hearing by the Licencing

Authority, in 2017.

Table 2.1: Music Noise Level Limits at Designated Monitoring Locations

Location MNL LAeq,15min, dB 1

MNL LCeq,15min, dB 2

MP1 – Rear of 8A Windmill Drive 75 90 MP2 – 14 Clapham Common West (Wandsworth) 75 90 MP3 – Trinity Hospice, 30 Clapham Common North 75 90 MP4 – Notre Dame Estate 3 4 75 90

1 The LAeq,15min MNL measured in a free-field location for any 15-minute period of the event outside any noise sensitive premises.

2 The LCeq,15min which relates to the low frequency MNL measured in a free-field location for any 15-minute period of the event outside any noise sensitive premises.

3 To be monitored at the point outside the residential property closest to the event site boundary. 4 MP4 was added as a temporary planning consent condition in 2017. Periodic measurements will be undertaken in

2020.

2.1.2 94 Clapham Common North Side is no longer a nominated monitoring location;

however, we have been instructed to undertake periodic monitoring at this location

during the 2020 event.

2.1.3 A plan showing the event and MNL monitoring locations is presented in Figure 1.

2.1.4 A Glossary of acoustic terms is included in Appendix A to assist the reader.



3 Site, Environs and Details of the Event

3.1 Site Location

3.1.1 South West Four is a music and dance festival which has been held at the Clapham

Common site for over a decade. In 2016 an additional day was added for the House of

Common Concert on the Bank Holiday Monday after South West Four, headlined by

Madness, which was also held in 2017 and 2019. In 2020 an additional event called

A State of Trance 950 is scheduled to take place on Friday evening and an event is

scheduled to replace the House of Common event on the Monday.

3.1.2 The area for the three events occupies a temporary arena at the north-east corner of

Clapham Common and consists of a main outdoor stage and four smaller enclosed

stages along with various concession stalls and bars. All sound systems are broadly

orientated in a westerly direction towards the bandstand. Live and recorded music

forms part of the regulated entertainment subject to premises licence conditions related

to noise control.

3.1.3 An aerial photograph illustrating the site layout, stage positions and noise monitoring

locations is presented in Figure 1 and a site plan is presented in Figure 2.

3.2 A State of Trance 950

3.2.1 The A State of Trance 950 event is due to run from 13:00 to 23:00 on Friday 28th August

2020, with rehearsal and sound checks scheduled for between 12:00 to 18:00 on

Thursday 27th August 2020.

3.2.2 There will be a number of outdoor and tented stages. The stage information and

programmed opening and curfew times are given in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: A State of Trance 950 Stage Information and Opening and Curfew Times

Stage Stage Type Fri 28/08/2019 Opening Curfew

S1 Outdoor 13:00 23:00 S5 Big Top 13:00 23:00



3.3 South West Four Weekender 2020

3.3.1 The South West Four Weekender event is due to run from 11:00 to 23:00 on Saturday

29th August and Sunday 30th August 2020.

3.3.2 There will be a number of outdoor and tented stages. The stage information and

programmed opening and curfew times are given in Table 3.2.

Table 3.2: South West Four Weekender 2019 Stage Information and Opening and Curfew Times

Stage Stage Type Sat 29/08/2019 Sun 30/08/2019 Opening Curfew Opening Curfew

S1 Outdoor 11:00 23:00 11:00 23:00 S2 Big Top 11:00 23:00 11:00 23:00 S3 Big Top 11:00 23:00 11:00 23:00 S4 Big Top 11:00 23:00 11:00 23:00 S5 Big Top 11:00 23:00 11:00 23:00



4 Sound Control Procedure

4.1 Personnel

4.1.1 To ensure the noise limits contained within the Premises Licence are not exceeded, all

the steps of the sound control procedure outlined below will be adopted. The sound

control procedure for 2020 is based on the procedure used in recent years at the South

West Four Weekender and House of Common events. It is anticipated, as normally

occurs, that the consultants carrying out the sound control programme will work closely

with the Environmental Health Officers from LBL.

4.1.2 A team consisting of one Lead Consultant and three consultants will be working at the

event. Details for the Lead Consultant from F1AC will be provided to the local authority

prior to the event. The Lead Consultant will be contactable at any time during the

licence period on the site communication radio and/or by mobile phone.

4.1.3 The sound control team will liaise with the team of audio engineers based at the stages

and operators of any approved smaller sound systems around the site. The audio

engineers will work under the instruction of the sound control team and put in to place

any required alterations to the sound systems broadband or frequency-based output

required to achieve compliance with the licence conditions. The festival management

will be kept updated with regard to the off-site noise levels throughout the event.

4.2 Sound Control Programme

Pre-event Information and Community Engagement

4.2.1 FR have committed to the following pre-event communication.

4.2.2 The Event Manager/Production Manager will ensure that any visiting contractors and/or

sound system suppliers are advised of the noise constraints which relate to the site and

details of this will also be contained within any contact documentation.

4.2.3 Local residents will be informed of a contact telephone number, that will be staffed at all

times throughout the events, to enable them to register a comment/complaint with

respect to noise. The Community Hotline will be published on LBL and FR websites ahead

of the event. Local residential properties will be contacted by a flyer that will contain

information on:



▪ the times of the events;

▪ the times of any sound checks or rehearsals;

▪ a website address for further local resident information; and

▪ the telephone number of the community hotline.

4.2.4 Prior to the events, the organisers will distribute flyers or letters around the

neighbourhood adjoining and close to Clapham Common. A distribution map is

presented in Appendix B.

Sound System Design

4.2.5 Capital Sound are to be the sound system provider and have extensive experience of

designing suitable sound systems for this event at Clapham Common. It is proposed to

use the same Martin Audio Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array (MLA) technology based

sound systems for all stages that has been used with success in previous years. Cardioid

arrangement and settings will be utilised for all sub bass arrays to reduce the rear

projection of low frequency sound.

4.2.6 All of the sound systems will have appropriate controls for limiting, adjusting and fine-

tuning individual third octave frequency bands.

Sound Propagation Tests and Sound System Set-up Checks

4.2.7 Sound propagation tests will be carried out on Thursday 27th August 2020 between

12:00 and 18:00.

4.2.8 The sound propagation tests consist of playing music, similar to the programmed artists,

through the sound systems and measuring the music noise levels at fixed monitoring

points to be used throughout the event in the front of house (FOH) area, ideally at the

mixing position where located FOH, for each of the stages. Concurrent off-site

measurements at the monitoring positions will also be taken for each stage to allow

identification of any potential problems from individual stages at individual NSRs. These

tests take account of all physical factors (e.g. distance, ground absorption, air absorption

and meteorological conditions) such that the on-site operating levels can be adjusted

and set to achieve compliance with the off-site premises licence conditions before the

start of the event.



Music Noise Level Limits

4.2.9 Premises Licence MNL limits and monitoring locations are detailed in Table 2.1 of this

NMP.

Sound Monitoring and Control

4.2.10 FR are to inform all relevant parties that F1AC are undertaking the sound control role as

part of the premises license requirement and that this role has been appointed and

approved by FR. F1AC will have ultimate operational control over all the sound levels

throughout the event. Therefore, all other parties, including artists, production

managers, stage managers, sound engineers and event managers will be instructed not

to increase any sound levels unless specifically agreed by the Lead Consultant

responsible for sound control.

4.2.11 Four sound control consultants will be working throughout the events, with a dedicated

member of the team appointed to respond to community comments/complaint visits.

There will be a permanently attended central control point that oversees the on-site and

off-site noise monitoring that will usually be attended by the Lead Consultant.

4.2.12 To facilitate a rapid response to changing sound levels, a monitoring system utilising a

computer network (wired and wireless) is to be established with all sound measuring

equipment at stages and off-site monitoring positions.

4.2.13 The music sound levels at all the mixing desk positions and the three permanent off-site

positions will continually have 15-minute and 1-minute LAeq, LCeq and 1/3 octave band

levels measured. This information will be relayed to the central control point in real-time

where it will be monitored. If the off-site monitoring levels reach a critical level it will be

possible to view the relevant on-site FOH sound levels and quickly ascertain whether a

particular stage has caused the exceedance or whether the sound level could have

increased because of external sound sources or environmental factors. Where necessary

an instruction can then be made from the central control point to the Capital Sound lead

engineer to reduce the on-site sound levels at the relevant stages, frequency

adjustments can also be made to reduce the sound at certain low frequencies, often

characterised outside the event as a ‘bass beat’.

4.2.14 Throughout the event, F1AC will be available to liaise closely with LBL Environmental

Health Officers responsible for noise, if they are in attendance. Results of the off-site



noise monitoring and any related actions will be collated and kept available by F1AC for

inspection by the three Local Authority at any time during the event.

Off-site Noise Monitoring

4.2.15 Permanent off-site noise monitoring stations will be located at; Windmill Drive, Clapham

Common North (Hospice) and Clapham Common West (Tennis Courts). These are

considered representative of noise sensitive locations and are indicative of compliance

at other locations (subject to normal meteorological conditions). Supplementary MNL

measurements will be taken at the other off-site monitoring locations, including Notre

Dame Estate, on a rotational basis. An aerial photograph identifying the site, stage

locations and external monitoring points is presented in Figure 1.

Community Hotline and Response to Complaints

4.2.16 A dedicated community hotline, the telephone number of which will be published as

aforementioned in Paragraph 4.2.3, will be made available and is staffed throughout the

events hours. All complaints will be logged and those relating to noise will immediately

be relayed to the Lead Consultant at the central control point with details, where

provided, of the complainant’s name, address and postcode, telephone number and a

description of the disturbance. A copy of the complaint log is presented in Appendix C. A

live Google Map of all noise complaints will be kept up to date with all noise complaints

to assist with identification of areas that potentially require focused attention from the

sound control team.

4.2.17 If a resident or business contacts the community hotline regarding noise during the

show, they will be asked if they wish to have a visit from an acoustic consultant. Where a

visit is requested, we will endeavour to send a consultant from the sound control team

to visit the complainants address and take a measurement to assess whether the MNL at

the property is compliant with the MNL limit. For each complaint the MNL at the closest

permanent off-site monitor will also be assessed in the central control room.

4.2.18 If MNLs are measured and assessed to be above the MNL limits, immediate action will

be taken on-site to reduce the MNL from the event. This will be achieved by two-way

radio or mobile phone communication with all persons involved with the sound control

procedures, thus a quick response to the problem can be actioned. Results of complaint

investigation monitoring and any related actions will be collated and kept available by

F1AC for inspection by the Local Authority at any time during the event.



Compliance Report

4.2.19 A compliance report will be issued two weeks after the event including a summary of all

sound levels measured throughout the event.


F1 Acoustics Company Limited 13/05/2020 1482/SW4-NMP/Rev2

Figures

38 Briton Hill Road, South Croydon, London, CR2 0JL* [email protected]( +44 1227 770 890: f1acoustics.com

PROJECT:South West Four Weekender 2020 – Noise Management Plan

CLIENT: Festival Republic Limited

TITLE: Noise Monitoring Locations

DATE: 04/05/2020

REVISION: 1

SCALE: Not to Scale

DRAWING NO: 1482/NMP/1/1

FIGURE NO: 1

DRAWN BY: Robert Miller

REVIEWED BY: Rupert Burton

REV DATE D R DESCRIPTION

0 27/02/2020 RM RB Issue

1 04/05/2020 RM RB Update

Google Earth © 2020 Google

Key

Stage (with stage number)

Central control point

Off-site noise monitoring location

134

2

5

X

94 Clapham Common North (Proxy)

Clapham Common West

Hospice

Windmill Drive

N

Notre Dame Estate


PROJECT:South West Four Weekender 2020 – Noise Management Plan

CLIENT: Festival Republic Limited

TITLE: Event Site Layout Plan

DATE: 04/05/2020

REVISION: 1

SCALE: Not to Scale

DRAWING NO: 1482/NMP/2/1

FIGURE NO: 2

DRAWN BY: Robert Miller

REVIEWED BY: Rupert Burton

REV DATE D R DESCRIPTION

0 27/02/2020 RM RB Issue

1 04/05/2020 RM RB Update

Key

Central control point

STAGE 1

NN

38 Briton Hill Road, South Croydon, London, CR2 0JL* [email protected]( +44 1227 770 890: f1acoustics.com




Appendices



Appendix A

Glossary of Acoustic Terms

Noise is defined as unwanted sound. The range of audible sound is from 0 dB to 140 dB. The

frequency response of the ear is usually taken to be about 18 Hz (number of oscillations per second)

to 18,000 Hz. The ear does not respond equally to different frequencies at the same level. It is more

sensitive in the mid-frequency range than at the lower and higher frequencies, and because of this,

the low and high frequency component of a sound are reduced in importance by applying a

weighting (filtering) circuit to the noise measuring instrument. The weighting which is most used and

which correlates best with the human subjective response to noise is the A-weighting. This is an

internationally accepted standard for noise measurements.

The ear can just distinguish a difference in loudness between two noise sources when there is a 3 dB

difference between them. Also when two sound sources of the same noise level are combined the

resultant level is 3 dB higher than the single source. When two sounds differ by 10 dB one is said to

be twice as loud as the other.

The subjective response to a noise is dependent not only upon the sound pressure level and its

frequency, but also its intermittency. Various indices have been developed to try and correlate

annoyances with the noise level and its fluctuations. The indices and parameters used in this report

are defined below:

▪ Background Noise Level – The prevailing sound level at a location, measured in terms of the

LA90,T, on an equivalent day and at an equivalent time when no concert or sound checks are

taking place.

▪ dB(A) – The A-weighted sound pressure level whereby various frequency components of

sound are weighted (equalized) to reflect the way the human ear responds to different

frequencies.

▪ LAeq – The equivalent continuous sound pressure level which at a given location over a given

period of time contains the same A-weighted sound pressure level of a steady sound that

has the same energy as the fluctuating sound under investigation.

▪ LAN,T – The A-weighted sound level exceeded for N% of the measurement period (T).

▪ Music Noise Level (MNL) – The LAeq of the music noise measured at a particular location.

▪ Noise Consultant – A person given responsibility by the organiser of the event for

monitoring noise levels in accordance with the prevailing conditions, and who has the ability

and authority to make decisions and implement changes in noise level during the event.



Appendix B

Residents Information Letter Distribution Map

Residents Information Letter Distribution Map



Appendix C

Sample Complaint Log

Sample Complaint Log For A State of Trance 950 and South West Four Weekender 2020

Detail Provided Information / Comment

Complaint number

Date and time

Name

Address (inc. postcode)

Telephone number

Email address

Location of noise disturbance (address)

Time/duration of noise disturbance

Nature of noise disturbance - Vocals / Bass / Music in general - Inside or outside

Additional comment

Visit requested (Yes / No)

Action taken

south west four weekender 2020 · 2020-06-25 · south west four weekender 2020 – noise...

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