Calls for Finsbury Park to be ‘taken out of council’s hands’

Anger surrounding events held in Finsbury Park has continued since a Tough Mudder event in April, reports Miriam Balanescu

A petition calling for management of Finsbury Park to be “taken out of Haringey Council’s hands” has been launched by the opposition Liberal Democrat group.

Anger over events in Finsbury Park has continued since a Tough Mudder obstacle course in April this year caused what deputy council leader Mike Hakata said was “several weeks’ worth of damage to the park”.

The council put a stop to all Tough Mudder and “further mud events” following the backlash – but local residents have been further frustrated by Live Nation and Krankbrother events held over the last two months.

In July, local campaign group Haringey Tree Protectors sounded the alarm on heavy equipment, including breeze blocks and metal sheets, being placed near tree roots in the park, breaching the council’s guidelines which recommend a “three metre minimum distance for any equipment” from trees.

On 6th August, the Friends of Finsbury Park (FoFP) said that, despite the council claiming heavy equipment had been removed, images taken that day evidenced that the organisers were still in breach of guidelines.

Cllr Hakata responded to HCP’s request for comment by saying: “We’ve investigated concerns about root damage from events and asked event organisers to make some small adjustments but are confident no lasting or significant damage occurred.”

While Wireless Festival (managed by Live Nation) entirely closed off public access to the park, Krankbrother events across two weekends in August were held in an area in the north of the park, which the events company said boasted “a beautiful tree lined carriageway” – resulting in calls from local environmental groups to move the event to a different location, due to its ecological importance. These requests were refused.

On 11th August, the council were further accused of “lopping off branches” of veteran trees to install toilets for the Krankbrother events. While not responding to these allegations, Cllr Hakata commented: “It is worth noting that none of the trees in Finsbury Park are ancient or veteran.” Local groups have dis- puted this claim. Cllr Hakata added that an ecological impact assessment of Finsbury Park was underway.

Now, the Haringey Lib Dems are calling for control of the park to be given to an independent community trust, “with neighbourhood and political representation from all areas surrounding the park”.

In response to frustrations surrounding a five-year deal with Wireless Festival – which FoFP say was secured without a “promised” public consultation – the Lib Dems are proposing a moratorium on all large events “until proper public consultation can happen” and a local referendum on decisions on “the structure of how the park is run”.

Tom Hemsley, a Lib Dem campaigner in Stroud Green, said: “Events in Finsbury Park are often fantastic, bringing together wonderful community and cultural groups from around Haringey.

“However, this is first and foremost a public park, and the ongoing environmental damage and loss of public space for residents is unacceptable. Lib Dems are clear: it’s time to take Finsbury Park out of the hands of Haringey Council. They mismanage it, they don’t value it as public space, and they don’t care about the concerns of the local
community which uses it.”

Alessandra Rossetti, opposition spokesperson for parks, added: “The council’s mission should be to preserve the park for future generations and allowing this sort of environmental vandalism is senseless – especially after declaring a climate emergency.”

Bethany Anderson, co-chair of FoFP, commented: “We, like many in the community, understand that major events generate material funds. But what confuses us is why Finsbury Park doesn’t feel like one of London’s top parks – safe, welcoming, open to all.

“We see no evidence of creative thinking around alternative ways to fund the park. We are worried that experience might have been lost in the past six months with a spate of retirements and no news yet on replacement (we currently have no park ranger or park manager). The pace of infrastructure improvements is measured in years (CCTV, lighting) not weeks and months, the pace of repairs likewise similarly slow.

“Common sense actions don’t appear to take place, for example making sure toilet facilities are open, that benches are repaired, that the park feels clean, that children’s play areas are maintained, that parking is monitored, and anti-lock braking (ABS) is dealt with.

“The community finds it hard to believe that an active, engaged management presence in the park would stand-by on some of the impacts we’ve seen this year. The avoidable environmental damage and event licence breaches are great examples. We want to avoid the sense that the council is tacitly overseeing a state of managed decline.”

On whether they support the peti- tion, Bethany commented: “FoFP support better park management and a less destructive funding model. We support management that prioritises the needs of local residents of Haringey, Islington and Hackney and that protects the natural environment while improving infrastructure. We would support a tri-borough management structure or structures like City of London Corporation.

“We would like to experiment with initiatives recommended by the police, for example see the park locked and all lights turned off once sports groups have left the park after 10.30pm at night. [We would like to see a] public consultation and review of the major events policy [and] smaller, well-managed, ecologically sustainable and community-focused affordable events.”

Emily Arkell, cabinet member for culture, communities and leisure, commented: “We are immensely proud of Finsbury Park. We take seriously our responsibility to maintain it as one of the best green spaces in London and the benefits it brings to the local community.

“Management by the council ensures that the park is run in the interest of all residents. The high standards maintained by our team are demonstrated by its Green Flag Award, which the park has recently retained for 2023/24.

“The park has a long history of hosting events, and we are proud to continue this tradition by hosting some of the biggest names in music each summer. We are always looking to improve how events are managed, and regularly engage with stakeholders in Haringey, Islington and Hackney to ensure that negative impacts are minimised.

“Events bring in around £1.2million income each year, all of which is reinvested into the park, as well as providing a vital boost for local businesses. It would be very unfair on residents who use the park all year round to give that up.

“We hold organisers to account and aren’t afraid to act if standards fall short – made abundantly clear this year when we ended our arrangement with Tough Mudder.”

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