The prospect of the massive T in the Park music festival being staged in Muthill has been described as “incredibly unlikely”, despite a flurry of rumours this week.
Speculation was rife throughout Strathearn after a letter was discovered on Perth and Kinross Council’s official planning portal flagging-up agricultural land at Drumdowie as a potential front-runner for the 2014 edition of the festival should it have to move from its current Balado home.
But the document, sent to the local authority’s Pullar House building in Perth and dated January 29, was promptly removed from the public domain after T in the Park promoters DF Concerts were made aware of its presence by the Herald.
It is believed the letter was tugged from the council’s website at 9pm on Tuesday night as it contained information that bosses deemed to be commercially sensitive.
The Herald understands the Muthill site mentioned in the letter is a 290-hectare patch of farm land at Drumdowie Farm, south of the village, and that a feasibility study has taken place.
It is also understood that several other sites have been sounded out with a view to hosting other events elsewhere in Perth and Kinross, although any future plans are very much in the early stages.
T in the Park has been held at Balado since 1997 and now attracts 85,000 revellers on each of the festival’s three days in July.
Fears were expressed ahead of last year’s event that the showpiece – Scotland’s largest music festival – would have to be switch from the former airfield site in Kinross-shire due to risks posed by an oil and gas pipeline near the main arena.
But a source close to the festival said: “T in the Park does not have to move and is keen to stay in the local area in the future.”
A spokesperson for DF Concerts explained: “As Scotland’s biggest promoter, we consider sites all over Scotland for a number of potential events and developments.”
Perth and Kinross Council said all T in the Park-related enquiries should be directed to DF Concerts, when asked for a comment prior to the Herald going to press yesterday (Wednesday).
