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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Haringey Council overturn the Licensing Authority decision concerning Krankbrothers in Finsbury Park

As previously reported the Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee refused Krankbrothers application of an additional Friday to be tacked on to an existing Saturday and Sunday event.  

 
Krankbrothers submitted an appeal to the Magistrates Court.  I commented that "This throws up an interesting situation for the Council.  Presumably the Council will have to support the decision of the Licensing Sub-Committee in court, yet as we all know the Council as park landlord encourage the staging of these events so it might not be completely supportive of the decision.”
 
Well, the Council didn’t uphold the decision of the Licensing Sub-Committee.  
 
The matter didn’t even get as far as the court. The Council just overturned the decision and instead allowed the event to take place on the additional Friday from 16:30 to 21:30 and to use a single stage only.  It is said that these measures address the Licensing Sub-Committee concerns.  Text of email from Council attached.
 
However the Licensing Sub-Committee in making the original decision were quite clear that "In the Committee’s view there were no appropriate conditions that it could impose that would mitigate the nuisance impact on residents of having two 3 day weekend events as opposed to one 3 day weekend of event and one 2 day weekend event, as currently licensed.”  (Residents letter - 28 February).
 
This situation just illustrates how ridiculous it is that Haringey Council, as park landlord in receipt of income from events, is also the Licensing Authority which is meant to regulate licensable activities.  
 
Anyway questions have been asked about the decision making process - watch this space.

Tags for Forum Posts: appeal, council, finsbury, haringey, krankbrothers, licence, licensing, park, variation

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Permalink Reply by Park on March 27, 2024 at 14:58

They don't care. 

It was especially bad as Krankborthers first year stated it would have various accessibility features like ramps, radar key toilets, and wheelchair platforms to view the show from, and they had nothing. I couldn't get my wheelchair across the site, and it was a really poor experience. No idea what it was like last year, but to impose this on residents and not even think through basic things like access is not good enough. There is also the cars that block the Endymion Road river entrance and stop wheelchair users from getting off and on drop curbs.

I could go on. 

Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on March 29, 2024 at 9:55

DEALS behind closed doors, where legal representatives
for two sides, in effect work for a single, common interest

IT is clearer than ever that, when the Council's Licensing Committee considers an Application in which the Council itself has a pecuniary interest, Haringey Council interests as Landlord will prevail.

Lawyers employed at the council have a duty only to the council Cabinet. When the council has skin in the game (i.e. Events in Finsbury Park), council Briefs will not defend any public interest or the public's representatives, but will act to defend the landlord, who also happens to be their employer.

With slightly reduced hours, Krankbrother Ltd. has the extra Friday they sought and from which the council will gain. The concessions are tiny and in practical terms, the council's "compromise", is to give to Krankbrother Ltd—and to the landlord—all they want. It is unclear how [i.e. utter nonsense that] the "compromise" addresses the concerns expressed by the Licensing Committee.

If an event is a public nuisance for fewer hours, it is still a public nuisance.

This compromise stems from the council's own policy, since 2014, for Major Events. This provides for the commercial exploitation of all our public parks [pdf], but in practice, which falls almost entirely on one park. The council excels at creating conflicts of interest for itself, but not at recognising them. As long as the council has a dog in the fight, such poor governance will continue.

This farce has happened before and it may happen again.

2019, BBC news: Wireless Festival: Haringey Council agrees to promoter's noise demands

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