Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
FIVE more years of Events in Finsbury Park?
HARINGEY Council prepares to commit to another 5-year
commercial exploitation deal for Events in Finsbury Park:
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At the Cabinet Member Signing at 1PM this Thursday, Cabinet Member Arkell or a substitute will lock the council into another half-decade deal with Festival Republic, the UK subsidiary of US giant global live-music monopoly, Live Nation.
The public are not ordinarily allowed into these little meetings, but at Agenda item seven, this is a specific exclusion (link above):
"Exclusion of Press & Public"
Just before item eight:
This EXEMPT item may discuss how the council will deal with the recent ruling in the High Court case involving Brockwell Park and how they will get around it.
For 11 years, intense and damaging commercial exploitation of Finsbury Park has been council Majority Group policy.
Tags for Forum Posts: 5 years, Cllr Ahmet, Cllr Arkell, Events Team, Festival Republic, Finsbury Park, Grime, Haringey Council, Live Nation, commercial, More…
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Konrad B
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One thing that concerns me is that according to the cabinet paper, paragraph 6.41 etc. "officers sent details of the applications to 38 external stakeholder groups by e-mail dated 13 January 2026" .... "Of the list of consultees, set out at Appendix 1 none provided any form of response to the event notifications."
Were all the consultees asleep even the Friends of Finsbury Park? What's the point of the Friends if on this important matter they don't ensure that the Friends policy of opposition to major events is put before the Cabinet and recorded in the Council minutes. So now the Council can say the Friends were consulted but raised no objections!
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
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KONRAD, the information you've seen from the council is not necessarily accurate. The Friends of Finsbury Park are on the case. Those attending tonight's LCSP meeting are likely to learn more.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson
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In what way is it inaccurate? The Friends group appears in the list of consultees at appendix 1. Is that not accurate?
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton
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My recollection may be faulty. But I dimly remember some convention about not taking major decisions just before an election that would bind the next Council. This one is for 5 years?
Even if my recall is faulty, it seems to me that that it should be a sound democratic principle. After all, why have an election if a newly elected political group cannot affect key decisions like the semi- privatising of Finsbury Park for five more years?
Is there a Labour Party under Starmer? How far is it an authoritarian Right Wing bunch which has pinched the honoured legacy name?
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It does feel inappropriate to make a decision on something so far reaching when an election is a couple of months away.
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ALAN, I agree about this principle.
There would seem to be two points here.
The attached document are submissions by interested parties at the outset of the current five year deal. The first two pages are carefully considered comments by Stroud Green Councillor Alex Worrell, comments which are still pertinent and relevant in their own right.
However I'd draw attention to the period in the heading:
"… Festival Republic park hire applications — 2023-27".
- This implies that, including this summer, the current deal has two summers yet to run. Which in turn, suggests that there is no urgency for the Cabinet Member Signing (by Lead Member for Parks, Cllr Arkell)
- After last night's LCSP meeting, I learnt that "Purdah" begins the day after the Cabinet Member signing.
Therefore, it does appear that the timing of the Cabinet Member Signing—12 months before it might be needed—is a cynical device by the Events Team to bind the hands of the next council. For five years.
The council Events Team is doing all in its power to (a) tie the council—to be elected in six weeks time for five years, and (b) to mount a "consultation" that is not worthy of the name. Initial enquiries suggests that several consultees never received a notification. This includes at least one local councillor and local organisations.
Responses were limited to a little box to be submitted to something called The Events App.
It hardly needs repeating that the Events Team have no interest in any objections, on the contrary, and have made a careless consultation, consistent with their goal of railroading the deal.
- Attachments:
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