News release: Green Party welcomes Field Day decision to withdraw from
Brockwell Park, calls on Lambeth Council to reset events policy, abandon
Culture 2020 consultation
Lambeth Green Party councillors have welcomed the decision by the
organisers of the Field Day music festival not to apply for a licence to
hold the 2019 event in Brockwell Park. The councillors, who lead the
opposition on Lambeth Council, have also called for the Culture 2020
plans which gave the go-ahead for Lambeth’s large parks to be used for
such events, to be scrapped.
After it emerged over the weekend that Field Day would not be applying
for a licence for 2019 [1], Lambeth Council confirmed the reports on
Monday stating that: “Field Day will not take place at Brockwell Park in
2019, as the festival is being re-formatted for a unique new site in
London."
It is understood that the Mighty Hoopla, a predominantly LGBT event
which was headlined in 2018 by TLC and Lily Allen, and which is owned by
a different company, East Creative, will be applying for a licence to
bring the festival back to Brockwell Park in 2019.
Lambeth Council is due to hold “drop-in” feedback sessions at Gallery
198 on Railton Road on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. [2]
Herne Hill Councillor Becca Thackray (Green Party) said:
“Field Day’s decision to hold the festival in a more suitable location
is the right one, for them and for the people of Herne Hill. While I
commend the organisers for their efforts to minimise the disruption to
the area in May, it was always going to be impossible to simultaneously
satisfy paying festival-goers and meet the needs of local residents.
“Lambeth Council must now demonstrate that they have learned from the
mistakes that were made which allowed Field Day to come in the first
place. It is evident that the Culture 2020 is not fit for purpose.
definitions are too vague and leave local people completely in the dark
as to what the real world outcomes would be. The plan ought to be
scrapped. This now provides an opportunity for the council to rework its
events policy on a park-by-park rather than blanket, one-size fits all
basis. That is how Lambeth will re-engage with the community and restore
the public’s faith in how it operates.
“The Green Party’s position on this remains what it has been from the
start: That an event of this scale and impact is not right for Brockwell
Park, and that before making a decision to hold any major event in a
public space there must be a genuine effort to consult with the
community it will affect. In addition we now insist that such events
will be of demonstrable benefit to local businesses and people, and that
any profits from such events will clearly go to the parks themselves.”
Jonathan Bartley, Leader of the Opposition in Lambeth and co-leader of
the Green Party of England and Wales said:
“Two different festival organisers have now found that it is entirely
inappropriate for large scale music events to be held in Brockwell Park.
It’s time Lambeth Council caught up and stopped pimping out our public
spaces. Our common land should be used well, and that means that it must
be protected from damage, accessible to all, and the health and
wellbeing and residents must come first when events are put on.
"The Council's failure to provide residents with adequate information
at feedback sessions - for example that Field Day had already decided to
go elsewhere - demonstrates once again how much it needs to do to win
back trust. The public perception it is of secret maneuverings and a
lack of openness, rather than a willingness to work with local people
over how our precious green spaces are used.”
