Council 'reviewing' legal ruling as Finsbury Park group calls for end to 'domination' of large events

A South London council was found to be acting unlawfully in the way it staged large events with potential implications for other councils such as Haringey, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Part of Finsbury Park fenced off for one of its major events

A friends group has urged for better regulation of summer festivals at Finsbury Park following a recent legal ruling.

The Friends of Finsbury Park group has asked Haringey Council to reassure local people that the park is not being “unlawfully dominated” by private festivals.

The friends group’s intervention comes after Lambeth Council in South London was found in a High Court ruling last month to be acting unlawfully by allowing events to exceed a 28-day ‘temporary use of land’ limit which allows for events to take place without full planning permission.

Lambeth lost its case as it was found the park was being used for 37 days without proper planning consent.

Gina Harkell, the chair of Friends of Finsbury Park, said the group had written to Haringey Council to ask for its response to the Lambeth ruling and to check if it too was correctly following policy.

She pointed out that large festival-style events would take place for 47 days at Finsbury Park this year, which would have “a big impact on the environment of the park and also on local people”.

The friends group has calculated this number by adding the build, take-down and event days of both Wireless Festival and Krankbrother Festival, the two major events being held in the park this year.

“This is a different angle, the amount of days larger areas are walled off from public use,” Gina said. “We’d not investigated this in the past, I don’t know why, it just didn’t occur to us.”

Gina said the group was awaiting a response to its day-limit enquiry.

In the meantime, she said there had been a “different buzz” around the issue following the Brockwell Park ruling and she was surprised at the media interest and that perhaps “a shift” was coming.

“It’s put them [the council] in a bit of a muddle,” she continued. “They [councils] will all be wracking their brains to figure out how to get around this. It’ll be a wonderful break if we even lose one [festival] from the annual line-up.”

Gina also claimed the amount of money Haringey Council had claimed local businesses made when festivals were held was inaccurate, as many events didn’t allow for food and drinks to be taken into the park.

The prices of festival tickets was another issue she highlighted as many events were “inaccessible” and not affordable for local people, calling into question who benefitted.

She said: “Finsbury Park is a very heavily used park for local people and it’s a way for people to have a bit of green space.

“They [the council] don’t want to upset the [event] operators, they’re completely in their hands, but they don’t need to be, they’re the authority of the park.”

In response to the Brockwell Park ruling, a Haringey Council spokesperson said: “We will be carefully reviewing the High Court decision. We are monitoring the developing situation in Lambeth and how this relates to our major events in Finsbury Park.

“Our summer events schedule provides a vital boost for local businesses worth millions in extra trade and brings in around £1.2million income to the council each year, which is reinvested straight back into the park.

“We take seriously our responsibility to maintain Finsbury Park as one of the best green spaces in London and the benefits it brings to the local community.

“Large swathes of park land and grass are openly accessible and available during events and continue to be enjoyed by the majority of park users.”

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