9 - Cllr Mark Springett

2012
Observers Report -V Festival 2012
18-19th August 2012
Cllr Linda Mascot &
Cllr Mark Springett
Cllrs Mascot & Springett
VFestival Observers Report 2012
25/08/2012
Intentionally Blank Page
Table of Contents
Background and Context ...................................................................... 4
JOURNEY INTO HYLANDS ...................................................................... 5
PASTORAL SERVICES ........................................................................... 6
SECURITY ........................................................................................ 7
POLICING ........................................................................................ 7
FIRST AID FACILITIES .......................................................................... 9
FOOD and DRINK ............................................................................. 10
RECYCLING and WASTE MANAGEMENT .................................................... 12
DISABLED FACILITIES......................................................................... 14
TOILETS ....................................................................................... 15
CAMP SITE ..................................................................................... 17
GENERAL ...................................................................................... 18
CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 20
And FINALLY .................................................................................. 21
V Festival Photos
V Festival 1 - Cllr Springett being thoroughly checked ! ............................... 5
V Festival 2 - Entrance and Security screening, Widford Entrance ................... 5
V Festival 3 - Face Painting in the "God Tent" ............................................ 6
V Festival 4 - Andreas Theophanous is a Street Pastor ................................. 6
V Festival 5 - Amnesty Bins, ................................................................. 7
V Festival 6 - Nitrous Oxide Canisters ...................................................... 8
V Festival 7 - Water Fountain Queues and Spillage .................................... 10
V Festival 8 - Table at Food Outlets...................................................... 10
V Festival 9 - Queuing System & Bar Token Point ...................................... 11
V Festival 10 - Rubbish Accumilation over the two days .............................. 12
V Festival 11 - Essex Air Ambulance collecting cups for trade in at the collection
point ........................................................................................... 13
V Festival 12 - Disabled Viewing Platform ............................................... 14
V Festival 13 - Typical of Urine Saturation by the end of the Festival .............. 16
V Festival 14 - "Duck Board" ............................................................... 16
V Festival 15 - Typical Camp Site set up ................................................ 17
V Festival 16 - Illegal "Shots" being sold ................................................. 18
Background and Context
The idea for V came in 1996 when Pulp's front man Jarvis Cocker announced he
would love to play two outdoor venues in two days. Pulp's promoters got together
and came up with the idea of putting the gig into Victoria Park Warrington and
Hylands Park Chelmsford giving fans in both the North and South a chance to see
the band. Then came the idea of adding more bands to the bill, putting on a
second stage and letting people camp for the weekend.
In the end Victoria Park was just too small for 3 stages and camping. So in August
1996 there was one day of artists in Victoria Park and 2 days at Hylands Park with
camping. The northern leg of V97 was switched to Temple Newsam, Leeds to
provide room for camping and three stages. In 1999 the Northern leg of the festival
was moved to Weston Park in Staffordshire, and has remained there since.
Hylands Park is an estate of around 574 acres in Chelmsford and has been enjoyed
by the public since Chelmsford Borough Council bought it in 1966 and was opened
to the public only 10 days later.
Cllr Springett : “I have used and enjoyed the park since the early 70’s when it was
a haven for schoolboys making dens in the woods. I have seen the transition of
Hylands Park since my early childhood and have regarded it as the Oasis of
Chelmsford. Whatever we (Chelmsford City Council) do in hiring it out to third
parties, must respect and preserve its integrity and we must make sure that
organisers such as Virgin do everything they can, before, during and after to
ensure the public can experience events that are both safe and enjoyable”
Cllr Mascot : “I have been using the Park since my childhood and while my own
family were growing up. I have attended events such as the Teddy Bear’s Picnic,
Fright Night at the House and attended various training courses as well as the
much loved and missed Hylands Spectacular.”
We both feel that being observers at V gives us the opportunity to provide
feedback as both a resident and a Councillor that will help to ensure this festival is
safe, sustainable and enjoyable for many years to come.
JOURNEY INTO HYLANDS
On both Days we entered the park via the Widford entrance.
At 11.15am Security guards were in place to stop unauthorised vehicles entering
Widford Road with residents displaying parking permits to allow access.
V Festival 2 - Entrance and Security screening, Widford
Entrance
Police were on the roundabout at the top of
Three Mile Hill, although weren’t actively
“helping” people to cross the road.
Traffic approaching the site was slow moving
V Festival 1 - Cllr Springett being
thoroughly checked !
but was a regular traffic flow from all directions. The closed ‘Masons Too’ public
house had marquees up and was advertising a late licence until 2am, although the
pub itself looked closed.
Touts continue to be a major problem, obviously based around the local Widford
pubs, specifically Masons Too and Sir Evelyn Wood. Tickets were blatantly offered
for sale or to buy from touts, there were around 6 touts mainly gathered around
Widford Church and around 6 to 8 on the approach to the entrance gate to the
festival. On the Sunday tickets were being offered for around £70 for the day.
Touts were also a problem around Chelmsford train station in the lead up to the
weekend, where they were openly touting for business, just down the road from
the City Council !
Outside Widford church, parishioners were handing out soft drinks in plastic cups,
which were well received and the rubbish from discarded cups was being
collected.
Approaching the entrance gate on both days there was minimal queuing, it seemed
that the gates had been opened earlier than last year which avoided congestion
going into the site. Our bags were checked, and tickets or wristbands scanned
which was another improvement from last year. It was clearly stated that with
day tickets you would only gain access to the site once per day which clamped
down on the tout’s practice of ‘walking people in’ and then taking their wristband
out to do the same thing an infinite number of times. On Sunday security guards
turned away a group of people in front of us who were remarkably turned out
considering they had camping wristbands and were told to enter via the Campsite,
they had no idea where this entrance was!
Recommendations:

Better enforcement of illegal touts by Trading Standards (Police were not
interested)
PASTORAL SERVICES
This is an excellent facility, offering a calm sanctuary within an environment of
noisy excess. The two Street Pastors , Lisa Quilter and
Andreas Theophanous go into the camp sites and have seen
hundreds of young people (Lisa is a qualified Youth Counsellor
and well as Street
Pastor) . With a vast
array of people from
all over the UK
attending this event,
this voluntary service
is an invaluable asset
to
the
providing
V Festival 3 - Face Painting in the "God Tent"
festival,
pastoral
V Festival 4 - Andreas
Theophanous is a
Street Pastor
care for many, particularly young people. The God tent seemed more out of the
way than in previous years and commented on the reduction in footfall (it seemed
to be in the same area, but the general layout of the site was changed so it wasn’t
so much on a general thoroughfare). When asked how they could improve the
facilities provided they requested some beanbags for informal chats with people !
SECURITY
We spoke to a senior security guard, Kyle Russell who had worked at many other
festivals and events. He had never worked at V Festival before but thought the
organisation of this particular festival was very good with adequate staff at his
disposal and good radio contact between services.
Throughout the festival, there was a strong security presence especially around
the stage areas.
Each
campsite
entrance/exit
appeared to be staffed by two sets
of security, one checking bags and
one checking/scanning wristbands.
This seemed effective given the lack
of restricted items we witnessed on
the “inside”
POLICING
V Festival 5 - Amnesty Bins,
"sniffer" Dogs & Ice Pops!
A drugs amnesty was in force at the
main entrance (A414 Greenbury
Way) for cars and buses and we
witnessed this in action with
amnesty bins being used and sniffer
dogs working to good effect.
Speaking to Sgt. Sara Dean and Sgt
Trigg, they were concentrating on
stopping people bringing drugs onto
the site and had confiscated a large
amount of Marijuana.
There was a distinct lack of uniformed officers around the site, with both of us
only seeing a group of 3 near the 4 Stage, apart from at the entrances, this was
the case on both days, whilst it is good to have a softly, softly approach, you do
need visible presence for people to contact if they need to.
Whilst speaking to a charity stallholder, she mentioned a problem with drugs
where she had witnessed on several occasions people taking ‘lines’ of cocaine but
couldn’t find anyone to report it to.
Around the site were piles of suspect small canisters (picture
bottom right) which we later found out to have contained
Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas). The canisters were used to
inflate balloons which, when inhaled, gives a feeling of
being very drunk and ‘out of it’, it’s mainly used for pain
relief in hospital and is NOT recommended for recreational
use. The police and security guards were unaware of this
problem and offered no solution. We were very concerned
at the prevalence of this and were informed that they were
easily available to buy on the general site and in the
campsite. As parents of children who camp at V this is a
concern. On further investigation we found the information
below :



1
V Festival 6 - Nitrous
Oxide Canisters
According to The Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency1 (unconfirmed) they
warned that sale of nitrous oxide gas for inhalation is an offence under
Section 52 of the Medicines Act 1968 of selling and/or supplying a pharmacy
medicine not under the control of a pharmacist.
The maximum penalty is two years in jail and an unlimited fine.
The only legal use of nitrous oxide is in catering, where it is used to whip
cream, and in medicine where it is used as a painkiller.
The MHRA is the government agency which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work, and are
acceptably safe. The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health.
We not sure what the final tally was but when we spoke to the police on Sunday ,
more than 50 people had been arrested on suspicion of drug offences. They also
said 29 people had been arrested on suspicion of drug dealing offences and 22 for
possession.
Five people have been charged, five issued cannabis warnings and 13 given
cautions. No further action has been taken against two of those arrested. The
remainder had either been released on bail pending further enquiries until dates in
October and November 2012 or were still to be dealt with.
FIRST AID FACILITIES
There were St John’s Ambulance staff2 evident on the site and a large central First
Aid Tent on the perimeter which seemed well equipped. When we spoke to staff
and senior officers they were happy with the facilities and were benefitting from
showers and good lighting within the Tent. On Sunday evening when we visited
this area there were few casualties and the staff remarked on the small ratio of
people to incidences over the course of the weekend: Cllr Springett followed up
with a call to Essex St John Ambulance Commissioner (Operations) Darren
Bartholomew who said :
“As expected with an event of this size, we were called upon to deal with just
about every kind of casualty imaginable.”
“But after months of detailed planning we were geared up to deal with everything
which came our way. All credit is due to our volunteers who gave up their free
time to support the event. They provided first class medical care, at times under
very stressful conditions.”
They staffed five treatment centres and a 24-hour advanced medical centre with
high-tech life support facilities similar to those of a military field hospital. First
aiders were out and about among the crowds on foot patrol and bike throughout
the event.
In total they treated 801 casualties and took 13 people to hospital during the
festivities.
Commissioner Bartholomew said that they were really pleased to have running
water, although there was one station that still really needed it. Post 5 near the
2
The medical cover for the event was a joint venture between St John Ambulance and the East of England Ambulance
Service NHS Trust
God Tent and the Undercover Stage where water had to be hand carried. This
should be a recommendation for next year.
FOOD and DRINK
There was a good variety of food available, at inflated prices (£7.50 for a small
portion of fish of chips/£4.50 for the cheapest burger). Fresh drinking water was
available and necessary with very long queues for the privilege. One problem was
the overspill from the fountains which by Sat afternoon was very “boggy”. It’s
interesting how they provide duck boards for the fountains but not the urinals!
There was also less water fountain than last year, this was a problem as the
weekend was extremely hot therefore the queues were very long.
V Festival 7 - Water Fountain Queues and Spillage
There was a distinct lack of refuse containers within the
immediate vicinity of the food outlets. Last year there were many
more adjacent to the food outlets. The picture below right was
typical of the tables servicing the outlets i.e. condiments and
cutlery, additionally we didn’t see one outlet with its own bin, so
that when for instance you purchased tea, there was nowhere to
dispose of the teabag which invariably ended up on the floor
under the tables.
“Beer Tents” worked well with the token system being operated
i.e. you buy beer tokens at a separate point and use them to
V Festival 8 - Table at
Food Outlets
“pay” for drink at the bar. This system allows the queue to move quickly as there
is no messing about with real money. There were long queues at times but this was
to be expected given the warm weather. Security were limiting access to ensure
the queue areas (Photo Festival x) were never too compact.
V Festival 9 - Queuing System & Bar Token Point
Recommendations :



Each outlet is provided with a small bin or asked to provide one themselves
At least one large bin to every 2/3 outlets placed within a short distance
Provide more water fountains
RECYCLING and WASTE MANAGEMENT
There were large waste bins throughout the site but not enough and no specific
recycling bins that were obvious and consequently all waste was deposited in all
bins. By 3pm on Saturday in the main site, all the bins were overflowing as the
bins were not emptied at any time during the day and rubbish was strewn all over
the ground.
There were no litter
pickers at all during either
day!
Cllr Mascot: “Saturday
evening had the worst
littering I have seen at any
festival and was in stark
contrast to other large
events I have recently
attended” (Olympic Site
and Hackney Marshes for
the Radio 1 Weekender,
which
were
both
extremely well-managed
with regard to litter and
re-cycling).
V Festival 10 - Rubbish Accumilation over the two days
In previous years the
Carling cups and any
plastic bottles have been
collected for incentives
but
this
wasn’t
so
prominent this year.
The only collection of cups
was by ‘J’s Hospice and Essex Air Ambulance. Most of the litter on the ground and
in the bins would have been easily recyclable if the facilities had been available.
V Festival 11 - Essex Air Ambulance collecting cups for trade in at the collection point
Overnight a lot of the rubbish had been cleared from the ground and bins had been
emptied, it would be interesting to know how many people had been involved in
this overnight clear up.
It would not be unreasonable to expect the organisers to provide operatives
clearing up litter etc during the day. Places where large black sheeting was
covering the ground would be especially easy to clean with large brooms! Yes
really. The large wheeled “Biffa” bins could be moved around with the operatives
so that they could collect and dispose of the rubbish. Other events use these bins
successfully with a golf buggy so that they do not have to be pushed or pulled.
Operatives could also walk through and collect from the main arena areas where
people are sitting around and it is relatively easy to negotiate through the crowds.
It would also not be unreasonable for food outlets to use completely compostable
packaging/cutlery. This was successfully implemented at the Olympic Parks where
food, plates and cutlery went into the same bin. Given that all the rubbish ends up
in the same bins around the festival this would seem like a sensible solution. This
just leaves plastic bottles and the beer cups which this year were not plastic but
made out of the same material as the TETRA packs. Again you can obtain
compostable “plastic” cups which could go in with everything else or, still be
collected. We are not aware of any compostable drinks bottles but as suggested
last year, you could use the same collection scheme as the cups and invite
charities or local groups to collect.
Recommendations:



Rubbish Operatives collect rubbish across the site during the day (as
identified under “DISABLED FACILITIES”, it is difficult/dangerous for people
with mobility problems to negotiate areas where rubbish has built up)
Either provide specific operatives to look after the food outlets and make
sure individual bins (see recommendations under food and drink) are
emptied on a regular basis or make it a condition that the outlet at least has
it’s own bin and empties it on a regular basis.
Compostable products should be used throughout the festival. Info at
www.vegware.comor similar companies are available.
DISABLED FACILITIES
There were two large disabled staging/platform areas with good views of the Main
stage and 4 Music Stage. The access to both were from ramps and had disabled
toilets nearby.
V Festival 12 - Disabled Viewing Platform
A security guard was situated at the entrance to the disabled area to assist where
necessary. On the staging near the main stage there were spaces for 20
wheelchairs and 20 accompanying family members/carers although there was
flexibility especially if young children were accompanying a disabled parent.
We interviewed a number of people on the disabled platform, Marilyn Fenwick who
was camping in the disabled campsite was disappointed that the campsite was
smaller this year and found the lack of signposts confusing. She had been turned
away from the viewing ramp the evening before and although she understood there
was a limit on wheelchairs, there was plenty of room and would have liked to see
more flexibility on the numbers. As the weather was extremely hot, she suggested
that the viewing ramps have some sort of shelter from either extreme heat or rain.
This would be feasible as it wouldn’t hinder the view for other people.
Marilyn commented on the vast amount of rubbish scattered around the site,
making it very difficult for people with mobility problems to navigate the site.
Signposting for disabled access on the roads in the vicinity was very poor, leading
to 3 of the people we spoke to ending up at the wrong entrance. An additional
problem was that staff were unable to direct people with mobility problems to the
correct entrance as they quite obviously hadn’t been briefed properly.
Recommendations:



Better Sign posting on the approaches to the site.
Better Clearing of litter during the day
Provide a cover for the platforms
TOILETS
The cleaning operatives servicing the “portaloo” toilets were very efficient,
renewing toilet rolls regularly and cleaning up as best they could. The toilets were
generally ok, but queues were excessive. There was an increase in men using the
areas directly around the stages as makeshift urinals which is not acceptable,
especially with young people around.
Eco-toilets
were
an
innovative alternative, but
at
£2
a
go,
pretty
expensive. One charity was
offering use of their toilet in
return for a donation which
was a good idea and could
be built on in subsequent
years
Urinals near the Channel 4
stage were completely
V Festival 1 A group of "Bees" take advantage of "Pootopia" !
unscreened! This may be
festival culture but this site particularly deserved modesty screening as it was a
main thoroughfare from Red & Yellow Camping, Channel 4 Stage, the Main Stage
and the Writtle Entrance. Why this wasn’t screened and other more out of the way
urinals were, was a bit of a mystery. Again, let’s not forget there ARE children that
go to V.
Issues with urinals:

Overflowing/leaking even on the first afternoon, resulting in urine soaked
ground which you have no option to walk on. As a result men were urinating
against the perimeter fence.
V Festival 13 - Typical of Urine Saturation by the end of the Festival



No hand cleansers available at the urinals (they were inside the portaloos)
this surely is a basic health/hygiene requirement. Especially given the
recent outbreaks of the Norovirus
Unscreened at one location
Placement (near Channel 4 Stage) on top of a bank and close to a asphalt
footpath, so when overflowing would run down the bank to the footpath,
combine that with the overflow from the water fountains at the top of the
path and this would allow the urine to travel further down the hill.
Recommendations :

Place the urinals on “duck boards” these are
slatted wooden or metal mesh grills, like the
ones at the water fountains. This would avoid
having to stand on urine soaked ground



Screen all urinals
Add hand cleansers on exit/entrance or even above the urinals
Urinals could be placed on spill trays under the duck boards, this would
capture overflow/leakage into a separate container.
V Festival 14 - "Duck Board"
CAMP SITE
Unfortunately, and yet again we had no access to the camp site but as both our
children were using these facilities we asked them about their experience.
As always it was packed! However there were designated areas with clearly
marked out pedestrian lanes to allow festival goers to move around the camp and
get back and forth to the entrance/exits, from a health and safety perspective it
would be useful to know exact layouts they used.
V Festival 15 - Typical Camp Site set up
Security was provided by the use of towers giving security a birds eye view of the
camp sites. Night time posed a slightly unusual problem in that the lighting was
placed so high that it made it difficult to see the signs and therefore difficult to
find the area your tent was in.
There were minimal bins provided and definitely no recycling facilities.
On Sunday Evening and Monday morning a very dangerous practice of setting light
to tents using aerosols was evident. People were emptying the contents of an
aerosol into the tent and setting light to it. Needless to say this could be potential
fatal if it were to spread to adjoining tents.
Recommendations:

Security needs to make sure this practice doesn’t happen in the future as
there was no one (security) evident when this was taking place.
GENERAL

We witnessed the unauthorised sale of ‘vodka jellies’ and high alcohol “test
tubes” around the site. If bag searching was being thorough they would have
found them. However we did find a “loophole” that would allow someone to
pick up banned items from inside the festival. Apparently stall holders etc
are allowed to bring alcohol etc on site for their own use, this could
potentially be abused with someone agreeing to bring these items in for
someone else.
V Festival 16 - Illegal "Shots" being sold

Essex Air Ambulance, J’s Hospice and Terence Higgins Trust were all happy
with facilities provided to them although all felt their situation was pretty
out of the way. They hoped to raise awareness and funds through cup
collection and sale of promotional items (Terence Higgins Trust give out free
condoms).

There were concerns about bottles and can finding their way from the
campsite into the main site and being used as missiles, more vigilance is
needed in this respect. Someone had been hit and injured by a flying glass
bottle!

Neighbourhood Watch gave some interesting advice which we couldn’t see
evidence of, either at the festival or on-line. They stated the following:
“Full emergency services include the Police, Ambulance and Fire Services. If
you need any assistance DO NOT call 999, as you will unnecessarily tie up
services from a nearby town. There are posters around the festival site with
on-site emergency numbers. Programme them into your mobile phone on
arrival. There are an ample number of Stewards and Security on site who can
be alerted to call upon emergency services or assist as necessary”
Now either they were wrong or this information wasn’t readily available.
Recommendation:

Ensure complimentary services and groups are fully briefed before the
festival.
CONCLUSION
V Festival is still a great social event and puts Chelmsford firmly on the map. On
the whole the event is well organised and visitors and locals alike enjoy the
amiable atmosphere. The weather made the event more enjoyable this year but
there are still some safety concerns which need addressing. Although the police
are doing an excellent job, there are still many people using drugs for recreational
use and more vigilance is needed.
The one thing that needs addressing above anything is the clearing of rubbish
during the day. Sort this out and the experience would be 10 times more
enjoyable.
And FINALLY
A few of
the lighter
moments of
V Festival
2012
6/21/2010
Cllrs Linda Mascot
Ward Member for Goat Hall &
Cllr Mark Springett
Ward Member for Moulsham Lodge
VFestival Observers Report 2012
25/08/2012