‘The site is huge’: division in Cardiff over music festival as green space closed off

Council says series of concerts in Bute Park featuring Stevie Wonder and Alanis Morissette will raise much-needed cash

Bute Park, the 56 hectares of gardens and parkland that were formerly the grounds of Cardiff Castle, is known as the Welsh capital's green heart". The space, almost unique in the UK because of its proximity to the city centre, is visited 2.5m times a year.

This week the beeps of reversing lorries and the clanging of construction could be heard as event staff built a huge stage and fenced off swathes of the usually tranquil park for the new Blackweir Live music festival, an event many argue does not strike the right balance between public and private use of the park.