The man running a popular Walesby Forest outdoor activity centre “wants to be a good neighbour” after residents raised fears the site was “becoming a theme park”.
Walesby Forest, an outdoor adventure activity centre around two miles from Ollerton, hosts more than 30 activities from its Brake Road location and offers accommodation to its visitors.
It was able to host events for up to 4,999 visitors, but was granted a licence on Thursday 23 April to double its capacity to 9,999 people, as well as extend the hours for late-night refreshments and the supply of alcohol.
The not-for-profit organisation offers experiences aimed at educating visitors in a “fun and safe environment within the heart of Sherwood Forest”.
Festivals and events, including fireworks on Bonfire Night and an upcoming vegan camp-out, are hosted at the centre to help it raise income, but these large-scale events have led to concerns from residents who live nearby.
Walesby Forest’s chief executive, Guy Laurie, said the centre will be striving to “be a good neighbour”.
A man who has lived on Brake Road for 15 years, said he feared the centre was “becoming a theme park” and that nearby residents felt very much like an afterthought.
“We support it in principle, it is wonderful to see young people coming out into the countryside,” he said.
“I think that is great. But the real story behind all this is the disruption that the place causes.
“Sometimes it is terrible, especially when they have the festivals and the Bonfire Nights.”
Another resident, a woman who has lived on Brake Road for more than 50 years, described the centre as a “great charity” but said complaints about its events have spanned a decade.
She said: “Our concern really is in the summer when they have a lot of festivals, and in the winter when they have the most enormous Bonfire Night.”
The resident said horses are kept along Brake Road, and most residents own dogs.
One summer, she recalled a glass of water shaking on her table from the music, and said her friends in Tuxford, which is almost six miles away, could hear it too.
“There is no need for them to have those fireworks. Centre Parcs used to have them, but they stopped it a few years ago because of the environmental impact,” she added.
“It does not seem like they care about the village. There are other ways to make a profit, you do not need to have loud events.”
Meanwhile, another resident of the street of 30 years, Kenneth Newton, said: “Live and let live. It does not affect me. It is a good thing. It isn’t bad up there, to be truthful, I’ve never seen any problems.”
Mr Laurie said:
“We are working with the council to address the concerns,” he said.
“All the major events have to go through the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) at Newark and Sherwood District Council. We work with all statutory bodies, the police, fire service, council and highways, and it is a requirement that we comply fully with what the SAG requires.
“We have had issues with noise. We have a management plan in place, and the event organisers will have to record sound levels to submit to the council if required.
“We want to be a good neighbour. We want to do stuff for the local villages and local children. But we are a charity. Money is harder and harder to come by post-Covid and after Russia’s war.
“We are not going to become a major events place. We have had a fireworks event for nine years. Taking on board what the locals said, we moved the fireworks in and away from the edge of the property, from the horses and animals.
“For us, we have a legal requirement to make a surplus as a charity, but we’ve had to be flexible.”
As a condition of the new licence, the full capacity of 9,999 people can only be used for Scouts and Girl Guides events.
