Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
New FOI data: Haringey Council earned £1.34m from events in Finsbury Park
London Centric put in a series of freedom of information requests, and this is what we learned:
Haringey Council earned £1.34m from events in Finsbury Park – home to Festival Republic’s Wireless Festival and the Krankbrother-operated series of concerts.
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/real-5g-conspiracy-how-londoners-...
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
-
THE Haringey Council leader has previously said that the council generated £1.2 million (in a past year).
And claimed that all that sum was ploughed back into Finsbury Park (as required by the Court of Appeal in 2017).
However, there is no evidence that all the receipts are used for the benefit of Finsbury Park.
Given the run-down state of the park, it appears that much of the cash raised on the back of our public park—through intense and increasing commercial exploitation—is siphoned off and used elsewhere.
.
-
Permalink Reply by Simon
-
It’s seems clear that very little money has been spent on the park apart from facilitating more events or repairing the damage caused by previous ones. We as local people should have the right to call for a forensic audit if we feel that money has been siphoned off for other uses. There now seems to be an obsession with lighting the park at night instead of keeping the area securely locked as a responsible council would do. This Council is not fit for purpose - only one party in power for more than 50 years has given their leadership an overpowering sense of entitlement. I recall solemn promises of no big events during the summer school holidays yet Krankbrothers will set up and operate at that time on the space not already trashed by the other lot. It’s time local people took similar action to the Protect Brockwell Park campaign and stop the damage, nuisance, exploitation and risk. There has got to be something wrong in a Labour Council inviting massive commercial organisations to exploit valuable open spaces in the summer when we need it most - to feed corporate greed.
-
Permalink Reply by Park
-
I find it very hard to get my wheelchair around the park. It's next to impossible during the festival season. It's very restrictive, and the damage they do to the paths, kerbs and roads just makes it harder for me to use the park year-round and damages my equipment.
-
-
Simon: yes, agree.
Those who pay attention to our public park can see that it is quietly being re-purposed into a gig venue. The council's broad view is that Finsbury Park is a slug of undeveloped land that needs to earn its keep: This is the only vision that the council offers for our park's future.
As well as the gradual re-alignment to the needs of the council's biggest customer, there is a steady decline in facilities for the public in the rest of the year. Damage caused by council-customers is normally repaired—after a fashion—about nine months after the damage was caused. i.e. in time to tart up the park a bit before the next round of commercial events.
The council is pleased to call this the "Events Season" as though it is somehow part of London's top society calendar.
The hammering of the surface of the park is visible months after the council's big customers leave.
Perhaps the best example of the running-down is the state of the pavements. In the southern half (Festival Republic), pavements are patched and re-patched, but in the north-eastern part (Krankbrother) no effort is made to repair the pavement for the public. These are in a particularly wretched condition, as any inspection today would verify.
Part of the 2017 Court of Appeal Decision was that councils held parks in trust for the public (i.e. they are not owners of the freehold). Over many years, Haringey Council has proven their unfitness to act as guardian or custodian.
The only long-term answer for public benefit, is that Finsbury Park is removed from irresponsible municipal control (and other parks similarly exploited for money). Because the Council and their Events Teams are intensely proprietorial about our park, this separation may be achieved only by compulsion: i.e. from London Mayor or Government level. It may require changes in legislation.
-
-
If you feel strongly about this, you might want to support the Brockwell Park legal case - "
IN a recent landmark High Court ruling in a case brought by the Protect Brockwell Park group, Lambeth Council was found to have broken Planning law in its use of Brockwell Park for major events.
The judge stated that Lambeth Council was not permitted to use the park in such a way for more than 28 days per year. Festivals this year in Brockwell Park will wall off the park from the general public for 37 days.
Over here in North London, local people will be denied access to Finsbury Park for 47 days this summer, with massive steel walls shutting people out for all of the festival period. That's 10 days more than Brockwell Park has to put up with!
But now Lambeth Council is bypassing the High Court ruling by issuing new certificates to grant itself permission to hold festivals for more than 28 days.
If the High Court ruling is undermined, councils everywhere could use the same tactics to bypass proper scrutiny for events in other London parks, including Finsbury Park.
Protect Brockwell Park are launching a second judicial review in order to:
Block Lambeth's loophole
Make the original judgment watertight
Protect Brockwell Park, Finsbury Park
and all UK parks for the futureThey have a strong case but need funding to see it through.
If you support their legal campaign please donate anything that you can at Protect Brockwell Park action, and share this message with others.
A victory for Brockwell Park is a victory for Finsbury Park, and potentially all of London's precious green spaces. Let's stop our beautiful parks being exploited by massive companies for commercial gain. People need parks!
-
-
IN the case of the Brockwell Park Judicial Review, I fed the Decision (attached) into ChatGPT, which summarised Judge's Decision as follows:
=====================================
Here is a summary of the High Court's decision in the case:
🧾 Case Summary
Case Title: Shaman, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Lambeth Court: High Court of Justice – Planning Court (Admin Division) Judge: Mr Justice Mould
Decision Date: 16 May 2025
Claimant: Rebekah Shaman
Respondent: London Borough of Lambeth
Interested Party: Summer Events Ltd
Neutral Citation: [2025] EWHC 1372 (Admin)⚖️ Background
Rebekah Shaman challenged Lambeth Council’s decision to issue a Certificate of Lawfulness of Proposed Use or Development (CLOPUD) for the Brockwell Live 2025 festival series in Brockwell Park, under permitted development rights (which normally allow 28 days of temporary land use per calendar year).
The key facts:
The festival would run from 11 May to 1 June 2025, with infrastructure installation starting on 11 May.
Some infrastructure would remain in place through 16 June, due to its reuse for the Lambeth Country Show (7–8 June).
The total duration of the park's use for events and related activity was 37 days.
📚 Legal Grounds of Challenge
Exceeding the 28-day Limit: The Council wrongly considered only a 22-day period, ignoring that the park would not revert to normal use until 16 June.
Misjudging the Application’s Scope: The Council failed to properly evaluate the full extent and duration of the proposed event setup, including the overlap with Lambeth Country Show.
🧑⚖️ The Judge's Findings
✅ Claimant’s Grounds Upheld
The Council erred in law by granting the Certificate.
The actual use period was 37 days, not 22, due to continuous occupation and shared infrastructure with the Country Show.
A future planning application (such as for the Country Show) is not a valid reason to disregard those additional days.
“Applying the critical factor of duration to the use described in the application, the decision to grant the certificate was irrational.” — para 60
The correct legal test (section 191(2) TCPA) was not met: the proposed development did not qualify as permitted development due to the excessive duration.
🧾 Final Order
Permission to apply for judicial review was granted.
The Certificate of Lawfulness was quashed.
Lambeth must now reconsider the event permissions in light of this ruling.
🔍 Implications
Lambeth must reassess how it calculates permitted development days.
Brockwell Live 2025’s legal foundation for proceeding is now invalid, unless alternative permissions are granted.
The Lambeth Country Show, already granted separate planning permission, is not affected by this decision.
- Attachments:
-
-
+£1m annually for the past many years and not a single publicly accessible drinking fountain in the entirety of its 110 acres.
Both the Council and the Friends of Finsbury Park are obstacles to proper and effective management of the park. Their relationship needs a reset, or the park users need a different voice.
-
-
It's pretty obvious to anyone who has children that significant amounts of money has been spent on upgrading the childrens' play areas which are now infinitely better than when my now teenagers were of the age to use them. Plus the skate park and the tennis courts. The play areas are now streets ahead of other Haringey parks which is down to this money which used to be shared between all the parks but since the court case isn't. Parks are in trust for all users and that includes those using kids play areas and the teens and younger adults going to Wireless.
-
-
- The council's commercial exploitation has been running for 10 years and would have raised roughly £10 million
- As noted above, there is not even a single public drinking fountain in our park
- Play areas have been improved, but the overall condition of our park does not reflect the spending of £10 million
- Events income appears to be diverted elsewhere, in contravention of a Court ruling
- The Tennis Courts and other areas are leased to other entities.
- The Skate Park was the initiative of The Friends of Finsbury Park who, via public subscription, raised £50,000 towards the cost.
- The Friends of Finsbury Park are a Registered Charitable Trust. The Friends are the only entity independent of the council and who try to represent the public areas that the council has not leased off.
.
© 2025 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
