South Wales Evening Post - 20 April 2007
Opposition to Swansea's Fflam summer music festival is growing amidst concerns about noise, disruption and disorder.
More than 30,000 people are expected to flock to the city in July for the open air party, with big names such as Manic Street Preachers, Keane and Feeder lined up to play.
A large temporary campsite is planned for Fairwood Common to house thousands of festival-goers heading for the event in Singleton Park.
However, opponents are calling for Fflam to be snuffed out, saying the event has been poorly organised and will bring chaos to the city.
One of those involved in the fight to scrap the festival is Swansea councillor Richard Lewis. Councillor Lewis, who represented Uplands ward for 22 years and now represents Gower, said: "The implications of a festival this size are horrendous.
"When they hold the Glastonbury festival they virtually have to seal off the whole town - do we want to see that in Swansea?
"It is going to be utterly chaotic."
Those views were echoed by pilot Mike Glinternick, who has a plane at Fairwood airport.
He said he had grave doubts about the viability of the festival.
"Fairwood is totally unsuitable for a campsite on this scale," he said.
"And the logistics of the whole thing - the size of the festival and the plans for camping - just don't add up. I think some serious questions need to be asked."
The festival furore comes as Swansea Council seeks permission to double the number of large scale events held in Singleton Park.
The council wants the park to stage up to 10 large scale concerts a year, with the current 90-day notice to police being replaced with "reasonable notice".
Alun Richards, of Bayswater Road, Tycoch, said he was horrified at the prospect of more big events in the park.
"The noise will be intolerable if they give the go-ahead," he said.
"I live about a kilometre away and every time there's an event on at the park, I simply go away for a few days.
"I'm lucky enough to be able to do that, but what about the elderly and people who are ill?
"People living closer to the park have more problems, with people throwing rubbish and defecating in their gardens."
A spokeswoman for Straight Music, the company behind the festival, said organisers had a great deal of experience with high profile music events.
"Fflam will benefit the local community in many ways and we will continue working closely with locals to ensure it is a big success for all parties," she said.
