Brislington industrial estate to host giant raves after licence approved
Skyline Park set to welcome up to 1,500 partygoers for four annual events
Permission has been granted for four giant raves a year on a Brislington industrial estate next to an AirBnB plane. Bristol City Council has given a premises licence to eccentric entrepreneur Johnny Palmer for his Skyline Park on Bonville Road with a capacity of 1,500 people including staff.
Parties have already been put on at Skyline Park using temporary event notices. The new premises licence allows four large events a year, planned for Saturdays running 1pm to 10pm. The businessman said he hoped the nature of the industrial estate would become “more hipster”.
However a local resident and local councillor warned the events would cause a noise nuisance with loud music and drunk people leaving. Councillors on a licensing hearing voted to grant the premises licences at a hearing on Thursday, April 30. The first party is planned for August.
Mr Palmer said: “The clubbing world has become so good in the last 10 years. It used to be a very narrow demographic, with lots of drink and drugs. It’s amazing going now, the range of age groups, 18-year-olds up to 50-year-olds having a great time together, much more conscious, much more responsible. People aren’t getting as mangled as they used to get.
“I want to make Skyline Park in Brislington more of a place that’s a bit more buzzing, more cool and more hipster. And I just love to see parties happen, especially when they’re intentional destination events where people have chosen to go there, rather than bumbling into because they’re in the area. It’s about making Brislington in particular, and Bristol, just a richer city.”
Putting on the music will be an array of younger promoters. But running the events behind the scenes will be Victoria Holden, from Alfresco Disco, and James Burrows, the director of the highly-regarded Airsec security firm. Punters leaving the venue will be directed towards taxi pick-up points and a welfare team will be on hand to keep vulnerable people safe from harm.
Ms Holden said: “The events would enable young promoters and creatives to do interesting things in the area, to rejuvenate the area. There will be letter drops just before the event that would detail a telephone number anybody could call during an event, should music disturb them, and then sound could be controlled.”
The licence is limited for a year, after which the team will assess the impact of the venue and any problems, before potentially applying for a permanent licence. There will be two bars, one inside and one outside, and an outdoor stage. The licence also allows an indoor monthly event, but with a tiny capacity of just 25 people.
While the venue is based on an industrial estate, the nearest houses are still nearby. Previous problems have occurred when residents were given leaflets before an event, with a phone number to call in case of problems — however this number did not work. Ms Holden apologised and promised this wouldn’t happen again. Another club nearby has also prompted complaints.
Labour Councillor Tim Rippington, representing Brislington East, said: “Over the last two or three years I have received numerous complaints about noise from residents in the Broomhill area about events taking place on this trading estate. During the summer months it’s almost every weekend.
“Now I’m not saying these were events that Mr Palmer has run. But what I’m saying is there is already a lot of concern about noise coming from that area. There is another club in the trading estate, which operates regularly. If they’re running events, and these events are running at the same time, you’ve got double the noise.”
Russell Davies, a local resident, added: “Mr Palmer found himself at my home address, unannounced and uninvited, when he attempted to intimidate and harass me. He did this by ringing on my doorbell and pounding at the glass of my porch door.”
Councillors on the licensing hearing stressed they could not take into account personal concerns about Mr Palmer, but instead must focus on the premises licence itself. The entrepreneur paid for a police escort to get a Boeing 727 private jet transported down the motorway, and is planning to get a second plane soon, and a new sauna with views over Bristol.