Organisers of a new festival in the “heart of the Kent countryside” have pledged to deliver a family-friendly event and not “some crazy rave” in people’s backgardens.

The Knockholt Fest - a one-day food and music festival - is set to take place on Saturday, August 5.

It will be located on land off the main road at the junction with Shelleys Lane, Knockholt, near Sevenoaks.

The organisers say it will offer “everything you’d expect from a Great British Festival” including live music, street food, award-winning beverages and local craft traders.

An application was recently submitted to Sevenoaks council after landowner Michael Cutting and events organiser Jay Scott applied for a time-limited licence for the event and requested to open from 10.30am until 10pm, and sell alcohol from 11am until the same time.

But it has been met with opposition from the local parish council and residents – 26 of which wrote to the district council’s licensing department to complain about its location on the crest of the idyllic North Downs.

It comes amid fears revellers will end up “partying in backgardens”, blocking streets and even damaging a primary school in the small village which has a population roughly the same size of the festival’s capacity.

Sarah Tormey, head of St Katharine’s Church of England Primary School, expressed fears in writing to the council.

She wrote: “I am concerned that the school itself will be vulnerable to damage, illegal parking etc as it will be the obvious choice for frustrated drivers to park in.

“We will have to provide security during this event to protect our school.”

Crowds of up to 1500 people are expected to gather in the village at peak times with car parking allocated for 500 vehicles.

Residents wrote to the council outlining concerns the village’s population “will double” on the day of the festival and see mass disruption in the week leading up to the event.

At a heated meeting of the licensing sub-committee on June 20, landowner Mr Cutting sought to reassure disgruntled neighbours.

He told councillors and villagers the goal of the festival was “to put on a nice community event for everyone to enjoy in the British countryside”.

It was also stated some of the money raised would go to Friends for Families, a Sevenoaks-based charity which supports families facing financial hardship.

However, the residents attending the meeting weren’t swayed.

Judy Bloomer told the committee: “The first thing we heard about it was a letter from the parish council.

“It isn’t about community, it isn’t about involving the church or the school or everybody else, this is about making money.”

Tickets for the event cost £5 for children, £10 for adults, and £30 for a family ticket.

Mrs Bloomer and her husband own land directly next to the site of the festival - and only a sheep fence separates them from the festivities, she said.

“You're selling alcohol, you’re attracting young people – it’s not just families,” she added.

“There is nothing to stop people avoiding paying to come to your event, coming onto the rights of way, and in our grounds effectively setting up and partying, buying alcohol from the local shop and trying to have a party in our grounds.”

I didn’t move to Knockholt when I stopped fostering children for a festival opposite my house, I wanted a quiet life

Linda Martin, who lives directly across the main road from the festival site, said to the committee: “I’m not against festivals for a start, I’m an old hippy so I love festivals, I just think where it’s being planned isn’t the right place.

“I didn’t move to Knockholt when I stopped fostering children for a festival opposite my house, I wanted a quiet life.”

She spoke of fears of “nearly a week of upheaval” for the community during the festival set-up.

“At school drop off times it’s chaos, I have to time when I can get out of my drive.

“I haven’t got a choice of whether I want to go to the festival and enjoy or not, I’ll have to put up with it because that’s where I live, right near your festival.”

In response, organiser Mr Scott sought to assure those present all live music would end at 9.30pm.

After an hour of deliberation, the members of the licensing sub-committee told residents and the organisers that they were going to grant the licence.

Cllr Diana Esler (Con), said: “We appreciate that the event has a relatively considerate ending time, it’s taking place on a Saturday, keeping disturbance to a minimum for neighbours and children.

“The sub committee appreciates that the applicant, upon hearing some of the objector’s concerns, have offered to take steps in certain areas to mitigate the concerns raised.”

After the meeting Mr Scott, who also runs the Kent Food Fest, which takes place yearly at Little Elses in Sevenoaks, said that the event would feature food trucks and “one of the finalists of masterchef,” cooking vegan food.

Landowner, Mr Cutting told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “I feel good obviously that we’ve won, but we’re not trying to do anything unjustified or untoward to the local community, we want to get everyone involved and we want everyone to enjoy the day.

“The main thing is to bring fun for the whole family from the children to the grandparents.

“There’s kids rides, there’s food stalls, there’s everything there and the safety’s there.

“It’s not like it’s going to be some crazy rave in the back of everyone’s garden.”