Friends of Brockwell Park has fought for the integrity of the park for more than 30 years: we were founded to oppose a floodlit running track on the Tulse Hill side. We completely rejected Lambeth’s long-term events ‘strategy’ of eight major events in Brockwell Park per summer as completely unsustainable by the community and ecology of this small urban park. The prospect of three major events (the free Lambeth Country Show plus two gated, paying events) leading to six weeks’ enclosure of a third of the park within two months next summer dismays us. At a special committee meeting next Monday 4 December we will decide our policy on Field Day and LoveBox.
Dear FoBP Committee
Please consider the following at your meeting when composing your policy:
1. The loss of public access to Brockwell Park to accommodate large commercial festivals – arguably illegal and could be subject to challenge.
2. The impact of heavy equipment and articulated vehicles on park grounds and associated recovery time
3. The disruption to local residents in terms of noise disturbance and anti social behaviour including substance abuse, drunkenness and open urination in the Park and surrounding area.
4. The net fees coming back into the Park and into Lambeth’s coffers and whether these commercial festivals are worth staging at Brockwell.
5. Park and local infrastructure and whether it can cope with the numbers of people likely to attend.
6. Health and safety including crowd control measures and safe stewarding of people in and out of the Park.
I thoroughly support the sentiments expressed here and I have little doubt that councillors will hear these objections loud and clear. I hope peoples displeasure is ultimately expressed through the ballot box at the impending elections.
These huge events dismay a large portion of the community too; more than a thousand people have signed a petition asking the council not to allow the Park to be used in this way – see https://www.change.org/p/lambeth-council-pledge-to-keep-brockwell-park-events-sustainable-and-proportionate?recruiter=836844216&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive
Please help stop these huge festivals taking over our beautiful park. We need it – it keeps us healthy & happy. We should not lose access to it and don’t want it damaged.