Locals launch legal challenge to protect park ahead of major music festivals
London's Brockwell Park has become a hub for music festivals in recent years, but some Lambeth locals argue they come at the cost of conservation. In the lead up to a summer of back-to-back festivals in the park, a sect of South Londoners have launched a legal challenge against Lambeth Council, saying that the park is being 'overused and under protected.'
The local campaign group, Protect Brockwell Park (PBP), issued an open letter to Lambeth Council, calling for an end to 'large-scale, unsustainable events' that are 'damaging the ecological fabric of the park'. On April 9, Protect Brockwell Park sent a pre-action letter to Lambeth Council, notifying them of their intent to initiate court proceedings.
The group seeks to challenge the council's decision to allow Brockwell Live's commercial events to proceed under "permitted development" rules. The campaign group said this move bypassed "proper planning scrutiny" for what was "clearly a major, damaging change of use". PBP has already raised more than £34,000 through their crowd funder to cover legal costs and received more than 3,000 signatures for its petition.
This summer, Brockwell Live will host nine days of events running across two weekends between May 23 to June 8. The line-up of events includes music and culture festivals like Wide Awake, Field Day, Cross The Tracks, City Splash, Mighty Hoopla, and London's biggest festival, Lambeth Country Show. These events bring thousands of visitors to the park, with the Lambeth Country Show bringing 120,000 attendees alone.
One of the prominent figures of the campaign is BAFTA award-winning actor, Sir Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall, Bones and All). 'The imposition of high steel walls for Brockwell Live every summer destroys the park for weeks and harms the grass, trees and plant life for months — if not forever. It turns it into a prison camp,' says the actor.
Since instigating its petition, the campaign group has been met with some pushback from other Lambeth locals. In an open letter addressing 'the people of Lambeth', SayYesLambeth has accused Protect Brockwell Park of being an elite and "well-funded" minority.
'For too long, a small but powerful group has dominated the debate about Lambeth's future — shouting down new homes, opposing events in our parks, and trying to silence our vibrant night-time economy,' the open letter said. SayYesLambeth contests that PBP does not reflect the values of the area's young residents, creatives and small business owners.
The open letter added that Lambeth's night-time economy is not just about entertainment but business, insisting music venues and other community spaces need to be protected. The group purports that events like Might Hoopla and Lambeth Country Show 'showcase our diversity, support local businesses, and give thousands of people access to music, culture, and community right on their doorstep.'
In exclusive comments to The Mirror, Protect Brockwell Park responded to SayYesLambeth 's letter, saying 'it sets up a false choice between culture and conservation'. PBP asserts that they are not trying to ban festivals.
According to the campaign group, SayYesLambeth's claim that the events are part of shared, joyful use of the park is 'nonsense' when 'they result in almost half of Brockwell Park being fenced off each summer'. Protect Brockwell Park also rejects any claim of 'NIMBYism' (an acronym for Not In My Backyard), saying: 'This is not a campaign bankrolled by the elite — it's powered by local people who care deeply about their park.'
Lambeth Council has shared its own response to the legal challenge, saying 'any impacts from the events on the park are fixed with our event partner' and that they are 'committed to addressing all potential issues promptly and effectively, whilst ensuring Lambeth's residents continue to have access to a diverse and meaningful range of events.'
The council has also made note of the cultural importance of Brockwell Live events, saying they are 'really valued within our LGBTQ+ community' and that 'similarly, City Splash celebrating Caribbean and African music and culture is much loved by our Black communities and beyond.'
At time of writing, Protect Brockwell Park has said that Lambeth Council have not responded to their concerns or their petition.
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Telegraph
3 days ago
- Telegraph
Martin Shaw: ‘Lewis Collins behaved so badly'
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That's just as well given the demands of playing More, a man with such integrity he would rather die than endanger his immortal soul by taking an oath confirming Henry VIII as Supreme Head of the Church. More's saintly virtues have been called into question recently, with Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy and the resulting BBC drama adaptation portraying him as a sadistic schemer of the Tudor court who enjoyed torturing heretics in opposition to his great rival Thomas Cromwell. In A Man For All Seasons, these roles are more or less reversed. 'I think Wolf Hall is one of the greatest dramas with the greatest performances ever produced by British television,' says Shaw. 'I've heard Hilary Mantel partly wrote Wolf Hall as a response to A Man For All Seasons. But from what I know, I think her portrayal of More is probably not accurate.' 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But the trouble all started when I was a villain in The New Avengers in 1977 and he was my sidekick. Lewis behaved so badly on that set. He had a small part but he was so arrogant. It was beyond that. It was bizarre.' Shaw describes how Collins would boast about his physical prowess at the expense of the other actors and confuse the director by talking about how the scenes would play out if he had to fight for real. 'I looked at the script for The Professionals and was offered the part. I'd done a film with Anthony Andrews and we were good mates so we rehearsed together and I thought he was a shoe-in for the other lead. But the production company wanted an abrasive relationship. 'I'd already said to the casting director, 'I can't work with Lewis because we don't get on', but they cast him anyway. I went up to him on the first day of shooting and said: 'You know I didn't want you to do this but let's get on with it and have fun.' 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'Rhodes did some very bad things but I didn't mind playing that character' In the four decades since The Professionals, Shaw invariably appeared on British TV as a detective or a judge, which he says is attributable more to television's obsession with the law than anything to do with his persona or slow, sonorous voice. One notable blip on this long list of hits was the eight-part BBC epic drama Rhodes in 1996, which told the story of Britain's most 19th-century empire builder Cecil Rhodes in southern Africa. It seems almost inconceivable that this would be made today, given the bitter controversy over Rhodes's reputation. The show was rounded on by critics and the ratings almost halved between the first and second episode. 'Rhodes was hard enough to make even then,' says Shaw. 'The BBC didn't want to support it. I suspect they wanted to kill it. Eventually it was made for £8m instead of £12m. 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The Sun
3 days ago
- The Sun
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Time Out
12-08-2025
- Time Out
All Points East 2025: bag policy and full list of banned items for east London festivals
London's festival season is still powering on, folks. We've got down to Charli XCX at LIDO, marathoned on Drake at Wireless and belted to Kneecap at Wide Awake. And the next big fest on the cards is the seventh edition of All Points East. Over five days across the next two weeks, east London's Victoria Park will welcome the likes of RAYE, Doechii, Barry Can't Swim, Confidence Man, Cleo Sol and the Maccabees for the eclectic indie/ dance focused event. But before you get carried away with thoughts of dancing away on the field, tinny in hand, there are a few rules you'll have to follow first. Got tickets for All Points East this year (or tempted to pick some up last minute)? This is the lowdown on what you can and can't take to the festival. When is All Points East 2025? All Points East will return to Vicky Park over the weekends of August 15-17 and August 22-24. Here's a breakdown of the headliners for each day: Friday, August 15: Cleo Sol and Sault Saturday, August 16: Chase & Status Friday, August 22: Barry Can't Swim Saturday, August 23: RAYE Sunday, August 24: The Maccabees Bag policy Keep in mind that you won't be allowed to bring any bags larger than A4 (297mm x 210mm x 210mm) into the festival site. If your bag is too big, festival organisers suggest that you leave it at one of Stasher 's nearby left luggage locations for £6 per day. Banned items This is a festival, of course there's a long list of things banned from the site. When it comes to food and drink, punters will only be allowed an empty reusable water bottle to fill up on site or water in unopened an plastic container of up to 500ml – if you get hungry there'll be loads of street food to purchase on site. Your bag will be searched before you enter the festival site, so if you want to get in, make sure you don't have any of the following on your person. Alcohol Dangerous or hazardous items Illegal substances or new psychoactive substances ('legal highs') Professional cameras, go-pros or video cameras Flags, banners or poles Golf umbrellas or parasols Gas canisters Glass (of any kind), Chinese lanterns, fire or fireworks Laser pens Skateboards or scooters Bicycles (cyclists may pass through the event site but must dismount) Selfie sticks Spray cans, air horns, klaxons, or similar Any other items deemed unsafe or a risk to public safety
