The Friends are resolutely opposed to the large commercial events.
Our historic park has exceptional amenity and landscape value and is one of the last remaining civic places we all share. It is wrong to profit from the loss of this value; depriving users for a significant part of the summer; causing environmental damage; and distressing local residents.
We are sympathetic to Lambeth Council’s financial challenges, and we are certainly not against music events. But there are much better locations for the country’s largest pop festival than a Grade II listed park in a dense residential area.
We will collaborate with other groups to insist that decisions about future commercial events are made with full transparency and meaningful local representation. We will campaign for the publishing of an authoritative financial appraisal showing both income and cost, and for proper professional assessments of all the impacts – on users of the park, on the landscape and ecology, and on local residents.
We believe that with a full picture, It will be clear that the large-scale commercial events are not sustainable.
Michael Taylor