J26 Diner Waltham Abbey music festival going ahead

Epping Forest District Council’s licensing sub-committee initially refused an application to hold the music event at the J26 Diner, off Honey Lane, last month on the grounds of public safety.

The plans have been opposed by police, who noted the site was used for an illegal music event in August 2020.

Police were called to shut down the event - attended by 100 people - last year.

Essex Police also expressed concerns over the risks posed by large groups of people, potentially under the influence of alcohol, wandering onto the nearby M25 motorway.

The J26 Diner site in Waltham Abbey. Photo: Google Maps

With the nearest train stations being Waltham Cross, Enfield lock and Cheshunt station, all more than five kilometres away, Essex Police raised concerns the events would leave 450 people under the influence of alcohol with no ability to leave the area.

A new application for the event was approved earlier this month after council committee members were given reassurances over the issues and the objections which were set to be challenged at an appeal to magistrates.

The even is now set for Saturday, June 26 and will run from 2pm until 11pm.

Sarah Clover, speaking for the applicants, said fears that intoxicated people could wander onto the M25 were unfounded and insisted the festival’s risk management plan had provisions to ensure it did not happen.

The J26 Diner site in Waltham Abbey. Photo: Google Maps

Ms Clover said there would be a pause on HGV movements for the duration of the event and also for two hours before and after.

She also added: "It's not a common thing for people to get roaring drunk because they have to get themselves home again."

The event planners had provided provisions for 80 on-site taxis to help ferry revellers to and from the festival.

Police had also claimed a previous unlicensed event at the site last August had been plagued by ‘drug abuse’ however Ms Clover dismissed this claim and said there was no evidence to back up the statement.

Ronan McManus, the police licensing office, responded the claim had been made by an Essex Police officer who had visited the event, and therefore could be trusted.

In her closing statement, Ms Clover said: “The police have said that ‘this is a truck stop’, as if that is fixed in stone and that’s all that it can be, well that’s a bit like saying Glastonbury is a farm and it mustn’t be anything else. Things develop and evolve, and as long as it’s done properly, as long as it is tis done safely there is no reason to refuse that particularly in these post-Covid times.”

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