Dundrum Area Committee Meeting 1st September 2014 A Review of the Marlay Park Concerts 2014 Introduction A series of single stage concerts were held in Marlay Park on 29th June, 2nd July, 4th July, 10th July and 12th July. The Longitude Festival took place on the 18th, 19th and 20th July. The concerts were held in Marlay Park, Grange Road. The concerts were licensed by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown-County Council (DLR) and policed by An Garda Síochana who were supported by security personnel engaged by the Promoter. A number of complaints were received by DLR in regard to the concerts and the purpose of this document is to review these complaints and make recommendations where appropriate. Background Legislative context and licence The Planning and Development Act, 2000 as amended, Part XVI of the Planning and Development Regulations, 2001, as amended provide for the requirement of a license for the holding of outdoor events. Section 231 refers to Regulations relating to matters of procedure and administration for applications and for granting of licenses. S.I. no 600 of 2001 and S.I. no 116 of 2012 currently pertain. An event is defined in section 229 of the Act as: (a) “a public performance which takes place wholly or mainly in the open air or in structure with no roof or a partial, temporary structure and which is comprised of music, dancing, displays of public entertainment or any activity of a like kind, and “ (b) “any other event as prescribed by the Minister under section 241” Article 183 of the Planning and Development (Licensing of Outdoor Events) Regulations 2001, defines an event as being “an event at which the audience comprises 5,000 or more people shall be an event prescribed for the purposes of section 230 of the Act” Licence application from Festival Republic on behalf of MCD Productions The Council received an application for a license from Festival Republic Limited, on behalf of MCD Productions, on the 4th April, 2014 to hold a series of concerts on 29th June, 2nd July, 4th July, 10th July and 12th July and the Longitude Festival on the 18th, 19th and 20th July. MCD Productions MCD Productions (MCD) was the promoter of the concert events. A Contract was entered into between DLR and MCD which runs from 8th May 2006 to 30th September 2015. 1 Festival Republic Festival Republic was engaged by MCD to manage the concerts and the festival. It is a leading full service Event Management Company and it had the responsibility for the overall management of the events in liaison with all of the relevant authorities set out above including An Garda Síochana and the HSE. Written notification to prescribed bodies As prescribed by Article 189 (1) of S.I. 600, the licence application was circulated to the following prescribed bodies: Environmental Health Officer, HSE (Health Service Executive) Dublin Mid- Leinster Environmental Health Officer, East Coast Area Health Board Environmental Health Officer, Air and Noise Unit, Fingal County Council Chief Emergency Planning Officer, HSE Dublin Mid Leinster Environmental Health Officer, HSE Environmental Health Department Chief Superintendent, An Garda Síochana Chief Fire Officer, Dublin Fire Brigade County Manager, South Dublin County Council Irish Water Newspaper Notice Notices were published in the Irish Independent on Monday 24th March, 2014 and in the Southside People on Wednesday 26th March, 2014 in regard to the concerts. No submissions were received. License The Licence for the concerts was issued on the 16th June 2014 by Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown County Council. (Appendix A) Event Management Plan An Event Management Plan was submitted by Festival Republic and approved by the Council which includes the following key elements: Event Management structure and responsibilities Event Safety Structure Site structure and facilities Medical facilities Stewarding and site security Traffic Management Plan Emergency Plans An environment monitoring programme for before, during and after the proposed event. Provision for the full clean up of the area and for ant remedial works arising from any damage caused to public property, facilities and amenities associated with the event. 2 Security Companies Festival Republic engaged two leading security companies to provide security internally and externally at the concerts. There were 420 security personnel and stewards manning events. The security companies engaged were: SLS Security Stuart Leisure Security Concert Event History in Marlay Park The Marlay Park Concerts started in 2001. Appendix B outlines the concert history in Marlay park from 2001 up to 2014. Complaints/observations received in relation to the concerts 140 cases were recorded on CRM associated with Marlay 2014. In some instances, the cases contained a number of issues and these issues are summarised in the table below: Issues No Restricted park access 32 Lack of information provided/received 4 Anti-social behaviour 33 Traffic/General disruption 52 Duration of concerts and number of concerts 26 Complimentary ticket distribution 8 Noise 46 Illegal parking 5 Littering 22 Lack of security 12 How revenue generated would be expended 1 Restricted Park access The car park on Grange Road was open to park users throughout the concert period with the exception of concert days when park users were directed to the Car park on College Road. The Park was open to Park users throughout the concert period apart from concert days when the Park was closed at 6 pm. Boland’s Café was accessible throughout the period but on concert days access was restricted. It is accepted that throughout the period there was restricted access to some parts of the Park and some footpaths restricted on concert days to facilitate the safe management of the event. 3 In response to complaints from Park users’ circulation routes were improved and additional internal signage was erected to direct park users to the various locations in the Park. Lack of information provided/received The Council communicated directly with the residents associations, adjacent to Marlay Park, in advance and during the concert events. This has always worked well as the residents associations are active with effective communication channels. A list of these residents associations can be found in appendix C The Council wrote to the residents in regard to the concert dates and issued parking permits to individual residents. A copy of these letters can be found in appendix D(i) and (ii) A communications team was set up by the Director of Service Richard Shakespeare overseen by Therese Langan and consisting of Aidan Blighe and Jeanette White. The team met with individual residents and dealt with issues on site before, during and after the concerts had ended. All mobile phone numbers were issued to residents so members of the team were contactable at all times. A help desk was set up and FAQS drawn up to address commonly raised issues and queries. A list of the FAQs can be found in appendix E All details regarding concerts were co-ordinated by the Council’s Communications Office and information details published on www.dlrcoco.ie The Gardaí communicated directly with residents in regard to traffic management in place during concert days. A copy of this correspondence can be found in appendix F Anti-social behaviour An Garda Siochana were responsible for policing within the concert site and it environs. They were supported by MCD who engaged two leading security companies to provide security and stewarding within the concert arena and outside Marlay Park. The security companies engaged were: SLS Security Stuart Leisure Security There were 420 security personnel and stewards manning each event There were extensive preplanning meetings that took place between Festival Republic, DLR and an Garda Siochana in regard to security issues and traffic management issues. A major Garda policing plan was put in place to cater for the large influx of people into Rathfarnham and to ensure the smooth running of this event. Gardai, supported by security, manned the following locations 4 1) Corner of Hermitage Avenue & Grange Road 2) Hermitage Alleyway off Grange Road 3) The Eden House 4) Grange Court alleyway off Grange Road 5) Corner of Highfield Road and Grange Road 6) Corner of Grange Road and Grange Wood 7) Patrolling – Highfield Court to Marlay Grange 8) Patrolling – Sports Grounds and Llewellyn Way 9) Corner of Grange Road and La Touche Court 10) Corner of Grange Road and Pine Valley Avenue 11) Driveway along Grange Road 12) Corner of Stonemasons Way and Heather Lawn 13) A private residence entrance, Grange Road 14) Driveway along Grange Road / cottages 15) Driveway along Grange Road / Pine Valley cottages 16) Roundabout – Stonemasons Way and Bradford Road 17) Patrolling – Llewellyn Park and Llewellyn Way 18) Marlay Grange House 19) Corner of Brehon Field Road and Grange Road / Grangefield 20) Event Control – located in Marlay House A map outlining the above numbered locations can be found in Appendix G All security issues were co-ordinated through the Event Control Room in Marlay House and any anti social issues that took place outside the Park were dealt with swiftly and efficiently. No serious incidents took place. Traffic/General disruption A comprehensive Traffic Management Plan was prepared for the concerts. The main focus of the plan was to ensure that concert goers could access the venue as quickly and safely as possible while still maintaining traffic flows for regular road users. The TMP emphasised the use of public transport as the preferred mode of travel to the venue. Use of public transport was emphasised in all marketing material issued by concert promoter, the Council and an Garda Síochana. Public transport Marathon Travel operated a dedicated bus shuttle from Dublin City Centre to Marlay Park. The coach drop off and pick up locations were accessed via the College Road car park.