Polish Festival at Grasshoppers Sparks Resident Backlash

Concerns over noise, litter and crowd numbers

The festivals will take place on the grass pitches. Picture: Facebook

April 15, 2026

A charity's plans to hold a large outdoor festival at the Grasshoppers rugby club have run into significant local opposition, with residents demanding the licence be refused or heavily restricted — and questions raised over whether the venue has even agreed to host it.

London Spark, a registered charity supporting the Polish community, has applied to the London Borough of Hounslow for a premises licence to hold a Polish Food Festival the grounds on Syon Lane, Osterley, on Sunday 7 June. The application seeks a 12-month licence covering up to three events, with between 4,000 and 4,500 people expected to attend the first gathering — a family-friendly picnic-style event featuring live music, food vendors, bouncy castles and craft stalls.

But the application has attracted a wave of formal objections from residents and the Osterley & Wyke Green Residents Association (OWGRA), who point to serious problems at an equivalent event held at the same site last year, and raise significant questions about the suitability of the venue for events of this scale.

Residents allege that the club had not given formal approval for the event, had not been consulted about the proposed further events, and was not even aware that the licence application had been submitted until a notice from Hounslow Council appeared attached to its boundary fence.

Grasshoppers RFC has since confirmed it has met with London Spark's planning team and that a pitch booking has been agreed, but a spokesperson for the club stated that no contract has yet been signed. "They only have a verbal agreement and a confirmation of pitch booking — they are yet to sign a contract or agreement," the spokesperson said. The club added that it has made clear to London Spark that only one event will be permitted this year, not the three the application requests, and that music will not be permitted to continue beyond 7pm — a departure from the 8pm end time sought in the application.

London Spark held a similar event at Grasshoppers last year, and while the organiser describes it as "very successful," some local residents disagree. Complaints from the 2025 event included excessive noise over many hours, with sound levels allegedly being turned down during monitoring periods and turned back up immediately afterwards. The stage was positioned just metres from houses on Wood Lane. Power supply arrangements were improvised, with extension cables overloading Grasshoppers' own electrical circuits and causing multiple trips during the event. Residents also reported having no way of contacting the organisers to raise concerns on the day, as the contact information provided was inadequate.

Noise measurement reports from the 2025 event, submitted as part of the objection documentation, recorded average sound levels of up to 76.5 decibels during live music, with peaks reaching 86.4 dB. To put those figures in context, levels in the high 70s are considered annoying to most people, while the Royal National Institute for the Deaf recommends ear protection be worn when exposed to anything above 85 dB. Residents argue it is a public health risk to expose people to potentially hearing-damaging noise levels while they are in their own homes.

London Spark disputes some of this characterisation, pointing to a positive post-event email from an OWGRA representative who acknowledged there had been no traffic chaos, that roads had not been blocked, and that attendees were well-behaved. The organiser notes it has received no formal complaints relating to anti-social behaviour or public nuisance.

Residents and OWGRA argue that Grasshoppers RFC is fundamentally unsuitable for an event of this scale. The site is bounded on three sides by residential streets, with Wood Lane and Syon Lane — both single-carriageway lanes — forming two of its boundaries. There is no bus route serving the site entrance. The closest train station, Syon Lane, is a 5-10 minute walk away and runs only one service per hour on Sundays. The nearest tube station, Osterley, is a 15-20 minute walk. There are no public car parks and no public toilets in the area.

One resident wrote to the licensing authority: "This area cannot cope with events of this size. If they want this sort of thing they should use somewhere like Brentford Football Club which has the facilities."

Residents calculate that even if just 10% of the 4,500 expected attendees arrived by car with three people per vehicle — an optimistic scenario — that would mean approximately 150 cars seeking parking on local streets, replicating the congestion problems seen at a previous large event at the site.

The formal representation, supported by OWGRA, asks the Licensing Committee to refuse the application outright on the grounds of the organiser's failure to properly manage last year's event. If the licence is nonetheless granted, a series of conditions are requested, including capping attendance at 1,500; requiring all tickets to be sold in advance with none at the gate; setting the 65 dB noise limit as a maximum rather than an average; requiring continuous noise monitoring throughout the event rather than the three checks proposed; mandating advance leaflet delivery to all surrounding properties; relocating the stage to the furthest point from residential boundaries; and restricting the licence to a single event pending a formal review.

In its responses to individual objectors, London Spark maintained that its event management last year was comprehensive, with trained stewards, noise monitoring and crowd control in place. It described the 1,500-attendee cap as "unreasonable" and commercially unworkable. On noise monitoring, the organisation said it would follow industry standard practice of taking averaged readings at three points during the day, and suggested that aircraft flying over the area had contributed to background noise levels recorded at the event. It confirmed it would deliver leaflets to surrounding residents before the event, and said it would discuss the stage location and operating hours further with the club.

On the question of a single-event licence, London Spark said it had no objection in principle, noting that a debrief with the club after last year's event had been standard practice.

The club's position may prove decisive. With Grasshoppers confirming it will permit only one event, that music must stop by 7pm, and that no contract has yet been signed, the practical viability of the application as submitted appears uncertain. The Licensing Committee will need to weigh whether it is appropriate to grant a 12-month licence for up to three events when the venue host has publicly stated that only one will be permitted and that the proposed hours exceed what the club will allow.

The hearing to consider the application is due to take place on Monday, 20 April at 7:30 pm.