Blackweir live - Friends of Bute Park Statement

Bute Park. Credit: Jon Candy

Here is a statement from the Friends of Bute Park to Cardiff Council regarding Blackweir Live music event.

We are writing on behalf of the Friends of Bute Park committee and Friends’ members who have expressed

concerns about the events planned for Blackweir Fields which are scheduled to take place during June and

July of this year.

We are concerned about many issues, beginning with the fact that there was no public consultation about

staging the event on fields which belong to the people of Cardiff, and the people of Cardiff being denied

access to vast swathes of Cardiff’s beautiful parkland for a large part of the summer.

In the early Autumn it was suggested that the Council were considering holding an event on Blackweir Fields;

no further details were given, and nothing more was mentioned until the Council’s Comms team issued a

press release on 29th October which announced the events – but also stated that the Friends of Bute Park

and the traders in Bute Park had been consulted; this was untrue; we heard about what the ‘events’ were to

be in that announcement.

Yet on March 27th in an answer to a question raised in the Council Chamber, Councillor Burke reiterated the

assertion that the Friends of Bute Park had been ‘engaged throughout the process’ and had been ‘meeting

officers on a regular basis as part of the process’. For clarification, The Friends met with Council Officers (21st

January) for an update, although there was not much more information to be gathered other than what was

in the Council’s Q&A, and, later, in a walkaround meeting described below.

It is reported that, in a meeting with Council officers in December, it was ‘agreed that the Council had not

been able to consult or inform residents as they should have done due to pressure to sign (the) contract

quickly’. This suggests that the Council is willing to bow to the demands of commercial promoters.

The press release also stated that large events had previously been held at Blackweir, including the

Eisteddfod, but that was actually held in Pontcanna Fields in 2008. Likewise, the X Music Festival and

KissStory both took place in Coopers Field and not Blackweir Fields. However, given the size of Pontcanna

Fields, the lesser amount of disruption to the cricket community, and the existing road access which would

not necessitate the felling of any trees, many people are wondering why Pontcanna wasn’t preferred.

Councillor Burke suggests that Blackweir Fields was needed to ‘fill the gap’ between The Principality Stadium

and the Utilita Arena – Cardiff City Stadium is the right size to fill that gap (capacity 33,280 seated, not

including the pitch area). Had this option been considered Blackweir Fields could have been left alone.

Blackweir Fields will be closed in whole or part, for a large part of the summer, to accommodate the build

(three weeks before the first concert) and to allow access to traders, and then closed entirely (except for

those holding tickets) during the events. Temporary roadways are to be laid, bridges installed and the grass

(and pitches) will inevitably suffer damage, even if only due to being covered for a long period.

Coopers Field will also have limited access due to scheduled events throughout the summer, and there will

be even more limited access to Cardiff Castle for half of June, the entirety of July and, presumably, almost all

of August (Tom Jones is performing there on 20th and 21st August).When enquiries were made about the tree felling, the

response was that it was based on an independent ecologist's recommendation to remove trees posing a public safety risk,

irrespective of Blackweir Live.

However, the plans on the event organizers' website reveal that the cleared sites align precisely with the

locations for the new bridge access for the event. The plans for the footbridges were made apparent via the

promoter’s and Oxfam’s website.

During the recent walkaround with officers from the Parks and Events team it became clear that the ecologist

was primarily tasked with identifying locations for the 6-8 new access bridges for the concert, rather than

conducting conservation work. The ecologist was not asked to assess which trees needed felling for safety

reasons but was instead focused on finding sites for the bridges. While the trees may have shown signs of ash

dieback, most could have been left as standing deadwood since they did not pose a risk to the public. The

Officers present did not want to, or were unable to, explain the construction of the proposed footbridges, as

that was in the remit of the engineers. And nobody wanted to respond to ‘Why hold it here at all?’

Similarly, the removal of invasive species like rhododendron has been limited to the immediate bridge sites,

with areas between the proposed bridges remaining overgrown. This approach seems futile from a

conservation standpoint. Furthermore, Councillor Burke confirmed that the concert organisers funded these

works.

If these actions genuinely constitute conservation work within a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation

(SINC), why has there been no replanting? Why was the dead wood initially removed until the issue was

raised, leading to the subsequent creation of habitat piles?

We are not opposed to the use of parkland for commercial events; they have taken place for many years and

we do not aspire to live in Councillor Burke’s ‘undisrupted utopia’… However, we do think that the addition of

Blackweir Live to the crowded summer events programme is tipping the balance the wrong way.

We believe that if there had been public consultation regarding Blackweir Live and the people of Cardiff had

been asked these questions:

1. Should concerts for up to 35000 people be licensed for Blackweir Fields?

2. Should mature trees (many healthy trees included) be cut down to accommodate 6/7/8 temporary

footbridges from North Road?

3. Should the North Road cycle lanes be obstructed/closed during June and July?

4. Should exceptionally loud music events be allowed in very close proximity to the elderly residents of

Nazareth House and Hope Court?

5. Should events generating exceptional noise and light volumes be allowed to take place alongside

semi ancient woodland, home to many bat species?

6. Should the public be denied access to Blackweir Fields for leisure and sporting activities to enable

commercial activities?

….the answers would have been No, No, No, No, No and No.

The Friends of Bute Park

April 2025