Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Friends of Finsbury Park General Meeting - some observations
The main discussion point was of course Wireless, with a long list of gripes that you'll be familiar with if you've read the other threads on this subject. They are not giving up on the legal route and have teamed up with the Open Spaces Trust who are in a position where the only option is to support an appeal, because legislation on which their organisation relies heavily has been effectively annulled by the judgement against the Friends in the Judicial Review case. Now that the nuclear option has been triggered, their only way forward is to push the button again.
It's acknowledged that a win would have an impact much more far reaching than just cancelling Wireless. It would prevent London councils from using public parks for any major commercial events - big concerts, Formula E racing, Oktoberfest and so on, wiping out a huge part of London's cultural economy. The loss of income would also make an enormous dent in the parks budget but there wasn't any discussion of ideas on how to mitigate these losses.
What struck me during the meeting was that there was very little focus on successes - I think they (along with the other stakeholders) have actually achieved quite a lot in terms of improving the management of Wireless - a greater security and policing presence, more secure fencing, better noise control, more litter pickers and better cleaning, tennis courts and play areas remaining open - yet most of these successes are being presented with a negative spin.
There was a ray of light later on with a brief discussion about plans for the Richard Hope Space which is the rocky hollow near the children's playground - they are hoping to find funding to turn it into a more attractive space, subject to consultation, with one idea put forward to create a small open air amphitheatre. It seems a shame that they don't seem to focus more of their efforts on positive things like this, and leave the Wireless campaigning to resident groups where it rightly belongs.
Unfortunately the current mess they've got themselves into seems to have left them with limited influence as a stakeholder. They do have a dialogue going with the council which seems antagonistic at best, although I think it's probably six of one and half a dozen of the other. This last point was perfectly summed up for me when I posed a question they didn't know the answer to. Why hadn't they asked the council about it? Because the council hadn't asked them.
Tags for Forum Posts: finsbury park, finsbury park events, fofp, friends of finsbury park, wireless
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by DTW on
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So in essence their failure in the courts has set the precedent against them? Nice.
Even if they do win in court watch the government whip through legislation that allows all these events to occur. London is a major world city, what planet are they living on if they think the objections of a couple of dozen people tops are going to undermine that.
Delusional, reckless and amateurish. Three words that come to mind when thinking of the so called friends.
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I don't have a problem with Wireless and other big events, but to me it seemed that the legislation said that they could not go ahead. In that instance, the legislation should be changed following the correct procedures so that they can.
I didn't really understand that part - how come they were still allowed to go ahead given that the legislation seemed to say they couldn't?
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Ah that makes sense, thanks for clearing it up. Must get confusing with old laws like that and you have to check everywhere to see whether there are newer ones that cover it. But like you said in your original post you'd think just asking the council what laws gave them the right would have settled it.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Seems like the ambitions of FoFP have gone further than just the local park
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/wireless-2016-backlash-grows-...
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Hi Tris,
What is the significance of whether the event is ticketed or not? Thinking that through a circus would be ticketed but a fun fair not. But what of events like Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park which is vast but not ticketed. If FOFP think Westminster Council aren't going to have their lawyers all over it (and they have much greater resources than Haringey and have much more to lose) they are fooling themselves. As you know I think their whole legal challenge is completely spurious.
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Permalink Reply by Protheroe O'Shea on
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I think to say 75% is unfair, there's a significant amount of road and pond used in that equation.
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Hyde Park is a Royal Park so Westminster have little or no say on what goes in there. On ticketed events, that could be interpreted as any event that makes a charge for entry so could cover things like fun fairs where you pay up front for ride tickets as you go in to an enclosed area.
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The Adidas event was completely harmless, I use Victoria Park nearly every day. There are some extremely sensitive souls in N4!
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