Festivals like This is Tomorrow could go ahead despite claim Newcastle parks turning into nightclubs

Newcastle's parks could still be set to hold music festivals despite a row with the council over noise limits, say the charity in charge of the city's green spaces

Newcastle City Council recently imposed a strict set of rules - including tighter noise limits and a requirement to give six months' notice - on major events in Exhibition Park after a series of complaints, which are said to make it impossible to put on huge concerts like This is Tomorrow.

But an Urban Green Newcastle boss now says that music festivals "will play a part" in the future of the city's parks.

Jon Riley, who has been Urban Green's acting chief executive, spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service about the charitable trust's future following complaints that the city's parks were being turned into "outdoor nightclubs".

This is Tomorrow has been cancelled in 2022, though its organisers said that decision was down to rising costs and an "oversaturated market" rather than council's new noise restrictions. 

Mr Riley said it was "too early to say" if any maintenance work or smaller and unprofitable community events would have to be scaled back due to a loss of income from large concerts in Exhibition Park.

When asked if it was feasible for music festivals to return to Exhibition Park or other Urban Green spaces in Newcastle, Mr Riley said: "I think it is, but we are going to have a lot more discussion with the local authority.

"All the way through we have talked to them and we have both said it is about trying to find a balance and we are still trying to find that."

A council hearing is scheduled in May to determine what restrictions will be put on an events licence in Leazes Park, which Mr Riley says he hopes will not be as "complicated" as the Exhibition Park row.