The last Brockwell Live drop-in session left campaigners more determined than ever to make Lambeth council listen.
The festival series Brockwell Live has caused increasing levels of damage and disturbance to Brockwell Park over the past few years.
Protect Brockwell Park is a group of over 500 residents who launched a campaign to raise £30,000 that would enable them to challenge Lambeth Council over its park licensing.
One of the heads of Protect Brockwell Park, Lucy, said: “Our issue is that Lambeth council is giving the promoters a repeated pass to put on these festivals without sufficient scrutiny or transparency, and without following a process that can be challenged by people.”
With eight days to go until their petition expires, the Protect Brockwell Park campaign has raised over two thirds of its fighting fund target.
Protect Brockwell Park wrote a long letter to the council with 800 signatures and is still awaiting a response.
Lucy added: “We understood that despite all these signatures, we were still without a voice.”
Flawed processes, policy breaches and unacceptable negative impacts on the park are some of the key issues Protect Brockwell Park has raised with the council.
Forty-five per cent of amenity grassland was fenced off for 68 days to enable setup, events, derig and incomplete restoration during the prime spring months last year.
Lucy added: “Although the festival site isn’t the whole park, it affects the whole park.”
Large areas were without grass all summer, and the damage has affected students, groups and families who rely on the park for its green space.
The wellbeing value associated with the frequent use of local parks and green spaces is worth £34.2 billion per year to the entire UK adult population, according to a Fields in Trust study.
A representative from Extinction Rebellion Lambeth, Katie, said: “You don’t have to be an ecologist, an activist or a statistician to look at the ground and see that it is ruined.”
The St Matthews Project, which provides football pitches for underprivileged children, has been unable to use them for the past two years due to ground damage caused by festival events.
Herne Hill resident Tim Harris, 64, added: “My main concern comes down to the fact that the park is in a terrible state after the event and that it is on for a long time. They don’t consider that, even now [nine months later], there are still barriers up.”
The roughly nine-foot-high steel fencing affects the Brockwell Park Miniature Railway, obstructing visitors’ scenic views during the festival months.
The Miniature Railway was one of the Brockwell Live Community Fund recipients two years ago.
The owner, John, said: “The fund has proved its weight in gold in keeping the railway going.”
However, footfall to the Miniature Railway drops during the months of May and June, which used to be their busiest.
Brockwell Live hosted several drop-in sessions for the community to raise concerns and feedback.
Tim added: “When I spoke to them, they did a Donald Trump on me and just kept repeating their mantra.”
A spokesperson from Brockwell Live said: “We will continue to work with [the community] and the local authority, who review our use of the park annually, ensuring we fulfil our obligations to everyone for whom the park is such a vital and beloved open space.
“We are exploring the possibility of investing in improvements to the park’s underlying infrastructure, including drainage, with the aim of reducing the impact of wet weather during the event and for the benefit of all park users throughout the year.”
Lambeth Council were approached for comment.
Protect Brockwell Park for everyone campaign can be found HERE
Stop fencing off and damaging Brockwell Park can be found HERE
