Sydney-based promoter Paved Way plans to hold the event – an electronic jazz and acoustic music and arts festival – at Cedars Mount View from May 23 to 25, with a maximum capacity of 1500 people.

Traffic, noise and security are among the main concerns residents have raised.

Simone Spence said she and her neighbours are worried about the precedent it could set if Cessnock Council approves the proposal.

“If it does get through, we’re worried that we will have an even bigger battle next year,” Mrs. Spence said.

“If it was a one-day event with a couple of hundred people we  wouldn’t complain.”

The event proposal states that a main stage will run until midnight while a second stage with a smaller and lower sound level will run until 3am.

Up to 500 cars could enter the property on the Friday, and the locals are worried about the way visitors will handle the narrow, mostly unsealed roads.

They say it’s difficult for two cars to pass on parts, and tree branches have also recently fallen.

The isolated location – six kilometres from Millfield and with no mobile phone coverage – is another concern, particularly if someone is ejected from the festival.

Paved Way held a meeting with residents in Millfield in February to discuss their concerns.

The idyllic Mount View environment is what drew the festival organisers’ attention.

Paved Way spokesperson Matt Weir said they were amazed at the property’s beauty from the moment they drove in.

“With the perfectly flat flood plain, surrounded by hills made it the perfect platform for a small boutique festival of the sort we had envisioned,” he said.

The festival will be targeted at 25-35-year-old Sydneysiders – the same demographic that attends the SASH Sundays events Paved Way has successfully been running for more than two years.

“We also believe that once the attendees of our event get to witness just how beautiful the Hunter is, then you will see a flow on effect when many choose to return for other occasions because they loved it the first time,” Mr. Weir said.

He said they are planning to have artists from the UK, Sweden, Germany and France play at the festival, many of whom have huge social media data bases and followers.

“The experience they will have by performing at such a unique part of the world, we believe can trickle down into their home countries and possibly help tourism increase to the Hunter Valley internationally,” he said.

Paved Way will donate a portion of the proceeds of tickets sold to Dr. Charlie Teo’s Cure For Life charity, and will also make a donation to the local Rural Fire Service for their assistance with parking procedures.

The development application is due to go before Cessnock City Council on April 2.