Krankbrother: dates of occupation

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter 2 hours ago

VIA colleagues in The Friends of Finsbury Park, I've received a copy of email correspondence (below) between a private individual resident (Tom —) and the representatives of the above event promoter.

Tom draws a distinction between the council's (self-serving) claims of compliance and what is reasonable.

He copied the exchange to Catherine West MP, who is likely to have received similar emails over the years.

She replied to Tom and has undertaken to put this on her agenda with the council when next they meet. Catherine West (and many residents) is aware that the new Green Council promised during the local elections to review holding Events in our park.

Members of Parliament have little influence on local councils but in any event, Catherine may not have represented constituents' cases particularly strongly to her close Party colleague (ex-leader) Peray Ahmet. There was no change in local Labour's intensive commercial exploitation policy in Finsbury Park.

Yesterday I contacted Tom. With his permission, I've reproduced the exchange below, redacting his surname and his email address ~

============================

From: Tom [surname & email address supplied]

Sent: Friday, 07 August 2026 21:18:55

To: Krankbrother Finsbury Events

community@krankbrotherfinsburyevents.com>

Cc: Bethany.Anderson@haringey.gov.uk

gio.iozzi@haringey.gov.uk

Ata.berk.askit@haringey.gov.uk

thefriendsoffinsburypark@gmail.com

Fin.fitzgerald@haringey.gov.uk

Andy.Donald@haringey.gov.uk

Barry.Francis@haringey.gov.uk

Simon.Farrow@haringey.gov.uk

Mark.Stevens@haringey.gov.uk

catherine.west.mp@parliament.uk

joanne.mccartney@london.gov.uk

Sarah.Jones@haringey.gov.uk

Subject: Re: Formal Complaint: Krankbrother Festival Sound Levels in Finsbury Park

 

Please treat residents with respect and turn the volume down now.

Tom [surname redacted]

P.S. Please do not address me as Tom. I am not your colleague. Also, please sign your emails.

On 07/08/2026 18:14, Krankbrother Finsbury Events wrote:

Dear Tom, 

This complaint has been logged and passed to the Event Managers, the sound monitoring team, Haringey Council, and anyone responsible for licence conditions and post-event review.

Kind regards,

On Fri, Aug 7, 2026 at 6:11 PM Tom [surname & email address redacted] wrote:

Dear Sir / Madam,

I have already provided my address to you in the past, only to be told that the event was operating within the terms of the licence and that, effectively, I was expected to tolerate the disturbance because it was legally permitted.

That is precisely the problem.

I am not asking you to tell me again that Krankbrother is operating within the licence. I am asking the organisers to behave like responsible human beings towards the residents who live around the park.

The most valuable part of Finsbury Park is being removed from public use for nearly a month, while local residents are subjected to continuous noise pollution inside their own homes. This is not simply a matter of “feedback” or “concern”. It is a sustained private commercial use of public space, imposed on people who live here.

There is also the issue of acoustic corridors in and around Finsbury Park. Sound does not travel evenly. In some locations it is naturally muffled; in others, it is amplified and carried far beyond the immediate event site. I have raised this before. The placement of sound sensors in locations where the readings are convenient does not necessarily reflect the lived experience of residents in the places where the sound actually travels and accumulates.

This is why simply assessing whether the event is “within licence” is not enough. The licence, the monitoring arrangements, and the way they are used appear to protect the organiser far more than they protect residents.

So again: please do not respond by hiding behind the licence. Please turn and keep the volume down to a level that is genuinely reasonable for a densely populated residential area, so that festival-goers can listen to the music without needing to protect themselves from it, and residents can live in their own homes without being subjected to unnecessary noise and vibration.

Please confirm that this complaint has been logged and passed to the Event Managers, the sound monitoring team, Haringey Council, and anyone responsible for licence conditions and post-event review.

Kind regards,

Tom [surname]

On 07/08/2026 17:57, Krankbrother Finsbury Events wrote:

Dear Tom,

Thank you for your feedback regarding the noise levels.

Could you please provide your address so that we can assess the noise impact at your location and investigate your concerns further?

Kind regards,

On Fri, Aug 7, 2026 at 5:52 PM Tom [name & email] wrote:

Dear Resident Liaison Team / Event Managers,

I am writing to make a formal complaint about the sound levels from the Krankbrother festival currently taking place in Finsbury Park.

Last weekend, the sound levels were relatively tolerable. Today, however, the event appears to be returning to the usual pattern of pulsing, fluctuating amplified sound and bass. This creates a particularly disturbing effect for residents: the sound rises and falls in such a way that it becomes difficult to know whether the noise is temporarily easing, becoming louder again, or simply being manipulated to remain technically defensible while still causing serious nuisance.

This is not acceptable in a residential area.

Residents are now expected to endure three days of amplified music from approximately 2:00 pm until around 10:00 pm. This is not a minor inconvenience. It is a sustained imposition on people living around the park, many of whom have not consented to having their homes turned into the acoustic perimeter of a commercial music venue.

Please do not reply merely by referring to the licence, agreed limits, monitoring arrangements, or compliance with formal conditions. That is exactly the issue. Legal compliance, if achieved, does not automatically mean that the impact is reasonable, proportionate, or morally defensible. A licence is not a shield from responsibility, and technical compliance does not erase the lived experience of residents.

I would also draw your attention to the BBC article published on 4 July 2026:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c87288g4zrgo

The article discusses the increasing use of earplugs at gigs and festivals because loud amplified music is now widely recognised as a risk to hearing. If festival-goers are increasingly expected to protect themselves from the sound environment at such events, it is plainly unreasonable to impose that same sound environment on residents in and around their homes.

Would it not be more prudent, and more responsible, simply to reduce the volume so that festival-goers can actually listen to the music instead of protecting themselves from it, while residents are not tormented by unnecessary noise and vibration?

Krankbrother should remember that it is operating as an uninvited and largely unwelcome guest in a public park, surrounded by homes. This park is not your private commercial venue. It is a public green space, used and valued by local people. Those people, and the park itself, deserve respect.

Please act like responsible human beings, not as if residents and the park are simply resources to be exploited until the licence technically allows no more. Turn the sound down.

I ask that this complaint is formally logged and included in any post-event review. I also ask that the sound levels are reduced immediately to a level that is genuinely reasonable for a densely populated residential area, not merely defensible under the current licence.

Please confirm in writing that this complaint has been received, logged, and passed to the relevant Event Managers, Haringey Council officers, and any person responsible for sound monitoring and licence compliance.

Kind regards,

Tom [surname]

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