WHILE the organisers are gearing up for the best Masterpeace Festival of Love ever, the council says it will not be taking place.

The brains behind the open air music event say they are all set to return to the Funkirk estate, on Heslaker Lane, Carleton, between Thursday, July 26, and Sunday, July 29.

The owner of the land, John Howard, has a licence to hold events on the site but he must give one month's notice to the council of any taking place.

Craven District Council's licensing manager Gary Bowyer said he had spoken to Mr Howard, who had had no indication from the Yorkshire CND group, which organises the musical gathering, that it intended to use the field.

Therefore no notification had been given to the council by Tuesday's deadline.

Mr Bowyer said: "As far as we are aware it's not going ahead."

Mrs Howard's wife, Catherine, confirmed that the landowners were not expecting the festival to take place.

She said she had seen flyers for the event dotted around but they had had very little contact from the organisers so had assumed the festival was not happening.

But organiser of Masterpeace Festival of Love 2007, Dan Wiltshire, said as far as he was concerned it was full steam ahead and someone from the production team had been in contact with the landowner.

Mr Wiltshire told the Herald 28 days' notice had to be given for the event and that the deadline had not been reached.

He said plans were in full swing with a programme including live music and DJ marquees, a Tunnel of Love discotheque, ethical traders, circus performances, international foods and a healing arena.

The festival celebrates chill, down beat, tempo, deep electronic dance and reggae music.

Mr Wiltshire said: "Our feeling is that everybody should be able to experience music and arts and performance in the countryside." Masterpeace has been held at Carleton once before, in 2005, and attracted thousands of people.

Mr Wiltshire admitted there had been problems but lessons had been learned.

He explained that the police had been called to the 2005 event after one particular performer refused to turn off their music, leading to complaints about noise.

He said: "It ruined it for everybody there. They are not coming back, they are absolutely not welcome."

Mr Wiltshire said there was an experienced management team behind Masterpeace.

He said: "We have got a management structure so that if something does arise it can be sorted out as properly and quickly as possible."

The organiser said certain rules were imposed, such as no vehicles on the site and no alcohol or barbecues.

He added there were guidelines on the volume and positioning of speakers and amplifiers.

Music marquees had to be made of thicker material and the sound had to be turned down by 20 per cent after midnight.

Mr Wiltshire said: "Our policy is to be friends with the community. We have got a lot of local stallholders coming along to trade for free."

Inspector Jonathan Pickles of Skipton police said was unsure if the festival would be taking place or not.

He said a meeting had been held between the emergency services and the council to ensure that if the festival went ahead it would be safe and met licensing requirements.

Insp Pickles said police had been called during the 2005 Masterpeace after complaints from both residents and festival goers about the noise.