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Organisers of the Isle of Wight Festival, Solo, have been criticised for "a lack of any clear or credible contingency planning" to cope with poor weather conditions at this year's event.
East Cowes firm GKN Aerospace has launched an application, calling for the event's licence to be reviewed, in light of what it calls the "unprecedented disruption and disorder to the traffic and travel network on the Island."
The company said that the dispruption led to disorder in and around East Cowes, including the premises of GKN Aerospace Services. In its licence review application, it stated that: "Large numbers of individuals attending the Festival were forced to leave their vehicles and congregate in large numbers to seek shelter until Solo Promoters decided to open the gates to the Licensed Premises."
This, the company said, could have led to increased disorder around the GKN site. It also claimed there was a 'clear threat' to public safety on the 21 and 22 June 2012, which was "directly attributable to Solo Promoters and their inability to organise and run the Festival in a safe and credible manner." GKN called for the Isle of Wight Council to take action to stop such a threat in future.
The application concludes that the disruption and chaos caused by the licence granted to Solo Promoters has served to highlight "the complete lack of any planning or credibility on the part of Solo Promoter to effectively and safely organise the Festival in future years."
GKN Aerospace Services' application concluded that the company, residents and businesses on the Isle of Wight are now legitimately concerned that if the licence is not revoked, or at the very least reviewed and conditioned, any future Festival would continue to cause a public nuisance and has real potential to cause crime, disorder and a threat to public safety.
Isle of Wight Radio has asked for a comment from Solo and the Isle of Wight Council and has yet to receive a response.
A consultation on the application for a licence review is open for comment until 1 November.
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