NEIGHBOURS living by Waltham Forest town hall have attacked the council's bid for a licence to hold events for up to 20,000 people until 11pm every night.

The council has submitted two applications to itself for permission to hold live entertainment, including music and dance, at the site in Forest Road, Walthamstow.

The authority says they are for one-off Olympics events only, but some are sceptical because the proposed licences contain no specific dates and no time for when they will expire.

Objectors fear it could allow the authority to rent out the site after the Games, a claim it denies.

They are also furious that the only notification about the licence were notices on lampposts in the town hall grounds and a small local paper advert.

The first application, to be decided at a council meeting on Friday April 13, is for film broadcasts at the Chestnuts Showground behind the building between 12pm and 9pm, and to increase its legal capacity from the current 9,000 to 20,000.

The second is for live entertainment between 9am and 11pm in the town hall grounds seven days a week.

The council has long been advertising two of its 'Big 6' Olympics events at the town hall including the 'Urban Classic' music concert on Thursday July 5 and its 'Festival of Sport' on Saturday August 5 and Sunday August 6.

Ruth Reed, 65, of Forest Road, said: "If they are advertising events before having a licence it suggests this is a done deal. They must've been planning it for months but are only applying for a licence at the last minute.

"People living around here accept that because we live near a public building there will be occasional events that cause disruption, but the concern is that the licence is open-ended.

"Whenever there's an event like Fireworks Night at the town hall it's incredibly noisy and the traffic is chaos.”

Tony Martin, 60, of Kenilworth Avenue, said: "I haven't got a problem with one-off events, but the issue is the licence is not dated and there's been no consultation.

"There's a lack of clarity and no legal guarantee that this will only be for the Olympics.”

The council's senior events manager Glen Watson insisted the application to increase its capacity was purely for the arrival of the Olympic Torch on Saturday July 21.

He told objectors in a letter: "[It] is to facilitate the unique evening celebration which will be globally televised and will attract millions of television viewers.

"It is not the council's intention to keep the capacity of 19,999 or to use the site any more than its current annual usage after the Olympics".

Cabinet member Cllr Clyde Loakes previously said notices in the area and a local paper advertisement had been placed to inform residents, which was in line with licensing requirements.

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