Christopher BarrettThe Lambeth Country Show, produced by Brockwell Live in partnership with Lambeth Council, has been cancelled with the council having withdrawn its appeal against a High Court judgment on large scale events in the park.
Following its launch in 1974, the Lambeth Country Show grew to become the borough’s largest free community event. Its cancellation is seen as the first casualty of the Brockwell Park legal battle driven by a crowdfunded campaign led by local residents group Protect Brockwell Park.
Doubts were cast over the staging of major events in the South London park earlier this year, after a High Court ruling on 16 May found that Lambeth Council had greenlit a series of shows without following the proper planning permission process. The claimant said the change of use permission only enabled the park to be used for events for 28 days per year, and the Court found that parts of the park would be used for events for as much as 37 days.
Despite the ruling, all the Brockwell Live shows run by Summer Events Ltd, including Wide Awake (23 May), Field Day (24 May), Cross The Tracks (25 May), City Splash (26 May) and Mighty Hoopla (31 May), went ahead as planned. The Brockwell Live-produced shows were promoted by companies including Superstruct, which owns Field Day, Mighty Hoopla and Cross The Tracks.
Lambeth Council said it is now looking at a new approach to events in Brockwell Park in May and June next year that could see the number of event days cut, and costs reduced by more than £1 million: “Because of the new approach being taken for future events, the council has decided not to contest two outstanding legal challenges in relation to events in Brockwell Park held at the end of May and early June this year to avoid unnecessary costs to the taxpayer.”
Following the cancellation of the Lambeth Country Show, residents group Protect Brockwell Park issued a statement expressing delight that Lambeth Council had withdrawn its appeal against the High Court ruling and “finally recognised that large-scale events in Brockwell Park must undergo full planning permission”.
It said, “Public filings indicate that commercial festivals in the park generate approximately £1.8 million in profit annually for private operators, while expert reports referenced in Lambeth’s own documents estimate the annual loss of public amenity during these events at between £0.5 million and £3.5 million,” said the group. “This raises a fundamental question: does the current model serve the public interest, or does it shift the cost of private profit onto residents, park users and the park environment?
“We wonder if there is a different way ahead for the Lambeth Country Show. A return to its lower-impact, smaller community led format, with a greater share of the private operator’s profits used to fully fund that event. We expect Lambeth to urgently provide full transparency of the commercial events’ revenues, and engage in a credible, open planning process, with robust impact assessments, and effective enforcement of planning conditions.”