Eight Green Party candidates have waded into the long-running row over staging huge music events in the north London park – just as a fresh contract is about to be inked by Haringey Council.
They have lodged a formal complaint over the deal with Live Nation which would extend annual events such as Wireless Festival and Krankbrother raves until 2032.
The London Mets Baseball and Softball Club are among the stakeholders who regularly use Finsbury Park. (Image: Google)
In a letter to Haringey Council they claim consultation on the contract was “fundamentally flawed”.
Despite a council report stating that 38 stakeholder groups were notified in January, none responded.
A council spokesperson hit back saying the claims being made in the letter “do not fit the facts”.
They said: “In reality, a system glitch means two of the listed stakeholders were not notified in the usual way about the proposal.
“We have reached out to both groups so their views can be fully considered at the meeting.”
Kate Dawson of the Friends of Finsbury Park, who have criticised the gigs for the noise, disruption, and fencing off the park for long periods during the summer, said the deal came as a surprise.
After checking the group’s inbox she discovered a ‘no reply’ email had been sent in mid January alerting her to a new message on the ‘Event app’.
“I just thought ‘I am not on that app, it looks like a scam’ so I didn’t click on it,” she said.
“If Haringey Council had contacted us in the usual way we would have had a lot to say – last time we submitted a 12 page response. We contacted other stakeholders who are usually very engaged and vociferous, and nobody had seen this consultation.”
The letter from the Green Party candidates says: “The consultation process surrounding this significant long-term commitment has been fundamentally flawed, lacking both the transparency and democratic rigor expected of a local authority.”
They claim that Friends of Finsbury Park, Edible Landscapes London, London Heathside Athletics Club, the Central Park Café, the Museum of Homelessness, Finsbury Parkrun and the Ladder Community Safety Group were among those “excluded” from Haringey’s consultation.
And they criticise the timing of the deal – the contract is set to be signed today (March 19) by cabinet member Cllr Emily Arkell just 48 hours before the pre‑election “purdah” period begins.
The Greens say the matter should go to full council and are calling for the deal to be postponed and a fresh consultation launched with the final decision delayed until after May’s local elections.
Green Party candidate Bethany Anderson said: “Signing a massive five-year deal on the eve of an election, after a consultation that failed to reach the park’s most vital stakeholders, is a desperate move that lacks both transparency and a democratic mandate.
“We are calling for an immediate halt to this signing until a meaningful, honest dialogue with community groups has taken place.”
Residents’ groups have previously complained at fencing off swathes of the park for 47 days every summer, with up to 45,000 music fans descending on the neighbourhood.
Haringey Tree Protectors has also said lorries compact soil and roots year on year, branches are hacked off and grass damaged by the events.
Kate added: “The timing of it before the election purdah smells very wrong. This ties the next two council administrations into a massive deal with Live Nation until 2032.”
She says her group’s longstanding opposition to the gigs is they are too large and disruptive for a residential neighbourhood.
“We are not against music events in the park we are just against these mega ones that are out of all proportion to the size of the space and capacity of the roads and transport,” she said.
“We are against turning a much-loved local park into a commercial event space which means people who haven’t got gardens are deprived of it at the warmest time of the year.
“A lot of locals would find smaller events pleasant – Haringey could make some money and there would be a balance that we could all live with, but this is completely out of balance.”
The council spokesperson said: “Our approach to the consultation is robust and in line with the council’s long-standing outdoor events policy.
“Agreeing an extension to the contract via a non-key decision cabinet member signing is in accordance with the council’s constitution – an approach that has been robustly tested and upheld through a judicial review.
“We receive around £1.2million every year from our major events and that money is put directly back into the park.
“As well as paying for a dedicated parks team, these funds have enabled the council to make significant improvements.
“This ongoing partnership with Festival Republic will ensure the council can continue to invest in Finsbury Park on a year-to-year basis.”
