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editor said:
Report from last night: Lively Herne Hill Forum meeting hears Lambeth Council, Lovebox and Field Day attempt to justify festival plans for Brockwell Park
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'Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood then spoke:
“The process has not been up to scratch.'

The process never seem to be 'up to scratch', like with the lost libraries. Do the deal, 'consult' then waffle. I know that the 'consultation' period is still on and sorry for being so pessimistic but do you really think the Lovebox/Field Days big business would be spending money if they were not sure about the application being approved?
 
Gramsci said:
I agree this is effectively privatisation of public space. The Council say they want people to exercise more. As Cllr Rachel points out Adventure playground are closed most of the time. I'd also add that prices at the Council Leisure centres are high for many people.
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Agree with this, but one of the difficulties is that the NHS budget to patch up poor health is disconnected with Lambeth’s budget. There’s no economic incentive for Lambeth to prioritise healthy lifestyles. I wonder if it would be a bit more joined up if the Department of Health funded local parks and gyms.
 
The two festival groups started consultation with interested parties on November the 20th last year but they only started consultation with local residents via a leaflet delivered on 13th January 2 weeks before the deadline for comments.

2 weeks might be acceptable notice for a street party road closure or some filming but is not enough time for such a huge 40 day operation in a much used public space.

Local democracy in action !?!
 
Winot said:
Agree with this, but one of the difficulties is that the NHS budget to patch up poor health is disconnected with Lambeth’s budget. There’s no economic incentive for Lambeth to prioritise healthy lifestyles. I wonder if it would be a bit more joined up if the Department of Health funded local parks and gyms.
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The reason I brought but up is because the Council keep bringing it up at meetings ( Brixton Rec Users Group). Its Council policy to encourage people to be more active. The Council have sports strategy and something else called Active Lambeth.
 
friendofdorothy said:
If anyone is concerned the letter we got (presumably the same one Rushy got) says -

apparently 'the views of local residents are important to the council in determining whether they should go ahead' (I'll believe that when I see something change) So if these events bother you email them now.

Deadline is 21st January.
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Done. Objected on basis of privatisation of public space as Cllr Rachel said and looks like promised money from income to parks is not going to happen.

The drugs thing I'm not bothered by. As imo they should be legalized.

I really dislike fenced off events at the best of times. Hyde Park is the same. It excludes the less well off.
 
editor said:
I'm hearing an awful lot of people saying that this is a done deal from the council and has been for some time.
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Well yes. Lambeth Events have got into bed with Lovebox, who said they will be providing infrastructure and management services for the Country Show.

Shared infrastructure- toilets, trackway, generators were mentioned- might make sense, depending on who is billing whom at what markup. But outsourcing management of the Show at this stage suggests that permission for Lovebox can't be refused down the line (a month before the event was mentioned for the final approval) without scuppering the Country Show.

If the Country Show is cancelled a lot of people will be very upset and those of us who've complained about these festivals would be blamed, but that won't happen because Lovebox won't be refused permission.
 
newbie said:
Well yes. Lambeth Events have got into bed with Lovebox, who said they will be providing infrastructure and management services for the Country Show.

Shared infrastructure- toilets, trackway, generators were mentioned- might make sense, depending on who is billing whom at what markup. But outsourcing management of the Show at this stage suggests that permission for Lovebox can't be refused down the line (a month before the event was mentioned for the final approval) without scuppering the Country Show.

If the Country Show is cancelled a lot of people will be very upset and those of us who've complained about these festivals would be blamed, but that won't happen because Lovebox won't be refused permission.
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Perfectly explained!

The Country show set and take down is very much under the radar of most park users. It slowly starts to appear then after that, it always seem to melt away. They never use 'trackways', the main stage comes into the park on 1 vehicle which is set up over 2 days and removed in 1 day.
 
ricbake said:
FOI Request ->
Lovebox, Field Day and threats of litigation against Lambeth?

Lovebox, Field Day and threats of litigation against Lambeth. - a Freedom of Information request to Lambeth Borough Council
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Apparently during a licensing review Tower Hamlets licensing committee decided to make Lovebox finish an hour earlier at 10pm because of noise complaints about crowds leaving. Lovebox sued them and convinced the judge that the decision was unfair and were awarded almost 20K costs against the council. The MD of Lovebox was gloating about it at the Herne Hill forum meeting.
 
Rushy said:
Lee Fiorentino also referred very specifically to environmental and biodiversity reports about the impact of the events by an expert he named as Dr. Bolton which had assured them there were no issues. He was then asked by the chair whether the reports would be made available online at which point he said that they were not so much reports as a series of informal emails. Asked to provide them afterwards he has said that he was speaking to colleagues to put together some information on park biodiversity - i.e. the emails don't exist. He also said that once they'd approved the festivals he's ask the promoters to do their own environmental assessments.
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Lambeth Council have long form for "consulting" experts via email, rather than commissioning full reports.
 
Dr Ian Boulton is a lovely chap who does the bat walks and does care about the parks.

But he is a Lambeth Council Officer...
 
Rushy said:
Apparently during a licensing review Tower Hamlets licensing committee decided to make Lovebox finish an hour earlier at 10pm because of noise complaints about crowds leaving. Lovebox sued them and convinced the judge that the decision was unfair and were awarded almost 20K costs against the council. The MD of Lovebox was gloating about it at the Herne Hill forum meeting.
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Flocking yell scum...
 
Let's hope that if these events go ahead they don't cause the sort of damage that's happened to the area of Clapham Common that was taken over by Winterville.

DS2_4082-Pano.jpg
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It looks like this area will be fenced off until at least March. The Winterville website says that's when the re-seeding will be completed and they will start applying fertiliser.

I don't know how this area compares with what will happen at Brockwell Park, but this is about 2/3 of the size that is usually used for the big festivals on the Common.

ClaphamCommon.jpg
 
Last edited:
Clapham Common is huge- this makes no difference, especially this time of year when hardly anyone is using the park. i would honestly say Winterville, which was free entry and good fun for a few weeks, was completely worth a small section of Clapham Common temporarily turning a bit muddy, exacerbated by typical bleak mid winter inclement weather.
 
An early port of call should be to see if the proposals fit with their own policy https://moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk/documents/s82615/Appendix A - Event Strategy 2016.2020.pdf and if they are following the consultation process outlined it in.

The application is really a two part process, first a political decision as to whether the event(s) are wanted in Lambeth. Probably already taken unofficially. Then an application for a licence. The license process is fixed, & not by Lambeth, there are strict timescales. This means for the operator that they can't be sure they have a licence until the application process and subsequent appeal period (total can add up to 11 weeks) is over. If anyone appeals the license decision then that goes to court, and that can take months. Not good if you have an event this summer!!

At the time of the Paralympics there was an event on Clapham Common, it was themed as a sport centred thing, but was in some aspects it wasn't dissimilar to a concert, the events team had told the operator they would get the hours they wanted, the license decision came back wrong as the councillors listened to the objectors & reduced the hours. Anal sphincters then worked overtime in the events team (who will be reading this {how's the income target this year so far? }) because they are income target led.

Once they make a license application then anyone can make an objection, based on certain criteria. Petitions don't carry any weight and neither do pro-forma objections.
 
jimbarkanoodle said:
Clapham Common is huge- this makes no difference, especially this time of year when hardly anyone is using the park. i would honestly say Winterville, which was free entry and good fun for a few weeks, was completely worth a small section of Clapham Common temporarily turning a bit muddy, exacerbated by typical bleak mid winter inclement weather.
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Actually, Winterville wasn't free entry...
 
editor said:
Latest update as the decision draws closer:

Field Day and Lovebox at Brockwell Park: The big questions that remain unanswered ahead of Cllr Winifred’s decision on Monday
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That's depressing reading. So now the Bio Diversity officer, according to Events , didn't email comments but talked on the phone.

I also don't like the way the senior Cllr Sonia didn't talk at the the Herne Hill meeting. The Events team get told what to do by Council. Cllr Sonia should be fully aware of that and what Events are doing. A senior Cllr like her should be talking and answering questions. If she is up to her job ( well paid as a Cabinet member), she should have been briefed by Events before meeting.
 
Tolpuddle said:
Anal sphincters then worked overtime in the events team (who will be reading this {how's the income target this year so far? }) because they are income target led.
.
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I've heard this before. I'd like to know from Cllrs on what basis Events team was set up. If I look at the website it's like they are any other Council dept. Like licensing or planning. There to help one set up a street party for example. If Events has income targets set by Council it's hardly surprising they actively try to get Lovebox.
 
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