A group of residents in South London have crowdfunded over £30,000 to launch a legal challenge against Lambeth Council’s decision to hold a series of festivals in their local park.
It was announced in late March that five major events will take place in London’s Brockwell Park this summer, including popular music festivals Mighty Hoopla and Wide Awake.
Local residential group ‘Protect Brockwell Park’, however, have voiced their concerns about said events, arguing that the council have ‘manipulated planning laws’. They have also raised issues such as environmental damage and the blocking of public access to the park for an extended period of time.
The legal issue stems from Lambeth council granting a certificate of lawful development to events company Brockwell Live. This certification would allow the temporary change of use of a space without requiring planning permission for a maximum of 28 days.
The festival organisers, Brockwell Live, have claimed that its events only span a total of 17 days. However, Protect Brockwell Park are making the case that this fails to take into account the additional time the area is fenced off during construction of the site, claiming the park was out of action for 38 days last year.
Speaking on their crowdfunding page, the residential group said: “We are local people fighting a million-pound company whose unsustainable business practices are damaging our trees, disturbing wildlife, compacting the soil, and fencing off huge areas of the park for weeks at a time.”
Damage to Brockwell Park last year. Photo credit: London Centric
The group make it clear that they are not campaigning for the full closure of these events, they just want to have their concerns listened to and enacted upon. Local campaigner, Lucy Akrill, told London Centric: “We’re not saying there should be no festivals at all… but this is too big, too impactful.
“So many people within the community have just had enough with the fact that the council claims they consult with the community”, she continued: “We have got to the point where it feels like legal action is one of the few ways we can make the council listen.”
Whilst the festivals themselves last just two weeks, Akrill said that last years events left the park “out of use for the whole summer and a boggy mess for the whole winter.”
Although over £30,000 has been raised, not all residents agree with the campaign. There is an argument that only one side of the debate was being heard. South London resident, Ana De Liz, had her say on the matter, telling London Centric: “This legal action is driven by wanting the festivals to go away. And I don’t want the festivals to go away.”
She highlighted the importance if Mighty Hoopla to London’s LGBTQ+ community: “You don’t really get a lot of LGBTQ+ friendly festivals in the UK.
“We’re seeing a huge decline in venues and spaces where people are allowed to dance, have fun, make friendships, and have a nice time.”
A Lambeth council spokesperson echoed these views, stating how much Lambeth’s LGBTQ+ community gets behind Mighty Hoopla, as well as the festival City Splash being “much loved by our Black communities and beyond.”
This is an ongoing issue throughout London. After two decades of austerity, local council’s claim that they need these events to raise money. But local residents will continue to battle against them, arguing that “huge amounts of money are being made by the operators” rather than for the community.
