PERMISSION to host an event for up to 5,000 people at a historic Barnsley site has been rejected - after the police lodged an objection over the public’s safety and the organiser’s attitude.

Friends Kids’ Festival is organised on the occasion of International Children’s Day to celebrate children and families through cultural, artistic and educational activities.

The event - which made its debut in Barnsley last year - is designed as an inclusive community gathering for all ages near Monk Bretton Priory, Grange Lane.

Applicant Marcel Vornicu had sought permission from Barnsley Council for its return, however councillors opted to reject a licence ahead of the proposed event at the end of May.

The council’s licensing team also raised concerns about how the event would be run, including crowd monitoring, safeguarding, security and access arrangements.

Officers also highlighted issues with emergency planning, warning of a ‘clear conflict’ between vehicles, pedestrians and emergency routes.

Traffic was highlighted as a particular issue, with the site accessed via a narrow track from the busy A633 Grange Lane, which carries around 19,000 vehicles on weekends.

Officers warned queues could spill onto the highway, particularly if tickets are sold on the day and capacity is reached.

Additional concerns included toilet provision, medical cover for a large crowd, documentation for fairground rides and food vendors, and safety arrangements for a planned petting zoo.

PC Phil Reed said: “My current role involves triaging all events that South Yorkshire Police are made aware of, risk assessing as necessary, providing feedback and advice to event organisers.

“The advice and guidance I provide is based on a combination of both objective and subjective criteria gleaned from a number of different base documents, policies, legalities, models and learning gleaned from past events.

“I read the plan and was immediately struck by inconsistencies in the information, lack of management detail and design issues of the site.

“My main concern, however, was the ‘blue light route’ which emergency vehicles would use for immediate ingress and egress from the site.

“Once inside the event the evacuation route for pedestrians in an emergency situation passed straight across the route.

“Rather than us working symbiotically, the lack of preparedness

would hinder access to the site and those in need in an emergency.

“As such I felt there was an increased threat to public safety, or more specifically to those 4,999 members of the public paying money to attend the event.

“My next point is somewhat subjective, but I feel worth mentioning - the organiser is someone for whom I believe English is a second language.

“Though he did understandably struggle at times to articulate himself or understand the questions, it was not the language barrier that concerned me, but rather his apparent attitude.

“He was dismissive of many genuine concerns about sanitation and animal welfare, as an example.

“When we, the police, assess the learning from tragedies and

incidents, we look at both the proximate and distal causes of the incident.

“One of the distal causes of incidents is a poor attitude to safety and I was concerned, based on my experiences, that the organiser wasn’t taking his role seriously enough, or at least didn’t know some fundamental elements of event safety.”

The Chronicle contacted Mr Vornicu for a response.