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Seeking eye contact is a good way of making sure you are seen yes, especially when that car is coming out of a side road and looking the other way. I always slow down until the driver looks my way. When I did my driving lessons and test many years ago, I was taught to always leave plenty of room when overtaking a cyclist and then to look in my kerbside mirror to make sure I had overtaken them safely. Have always done that since.

I've been cycling in London for decades. The two times a vehicle knocked me off my bicycle, were in conditions that were well lit (one was daylight) and the night time one was just me and the vehicle on the road. Both the driver's fault. The point it that most drivers are perfectly capable of seeing a bicycle in most conditions, just as they are capable of seeing a child or dog run out in front of them. Who knows why a small percentage are incapable of doing that, but gaslighting the victim is not the answer. Are there wreckless cyclists? Sure. Just as there are reckless drivers and pedestrians. But it's worth remembering that millions of roads users navigate their journeys perfectly safely every day. As a driver, you are taught to check your mirrors regularly (not just when considering an manoevre), and the first rule of the Highway Code, is to always avoid an accident if you can. My attitude when using the roads it to always expect someone to do something stupid/ wreckless. I look for it. That is the best way of avoiding any accident, no matter what form of transport you use.

The other thing is that the money the council makes from the festival is not spent in the local area, whereas money made from events in other parks are. Renata Hamvas would have to approve any change to the premises licence before the events team can consider a license for the proposal in the current form. There needs to be an organised local pushback this time, to at least stop that second weekend being granted. I am thinking along the lines of a door to door petition. There are local elections next May. Lot's of opportunity to make this an election issue for impacted wards around the park. Just need to be orgaised.

I absolutely will. Fed up of property developments that are funded from offshore investors and price out local people. Fed up of the demise of social rents and the growing crisis of families in bed and breakfast. Fed up of young people being unable to save deposits, start families and generally have the same security of tenure that previous generations had. So yes, I will drill down into the financing, affordability, where the properties aer being advertised for sale, and how many are genuinely for social rent. Otherwise, no opposition to redeveloping that site in that way.

There is now reseach emerging into the impact of festivals on nesting birds and I will be collating that for the consultations this time round. That research is showing that walls of suddenly imposed sound can send birds away never to return to their nests. Some species are affected more than others. Starlings are particularly sensitive.

Shared living amenities come with shared service charges and there is no ceiling to anual increases in those. Expect many of the properties will be sold off plan to investors that never live there. Just more additions to rental properties that very few locals can afford to live in. Questions to be asked at their drop in sessions.

The plans look interesting but once agan, we have developers offering just the bare minimum on social rents. 222 units, but no mention of how many are for social rent. From the floor plans, I counted just 21.

And who are the homes for exactly?

Every year they ask for more and every year it is an exhausting process pushing back on that for local residents and councillors. What annoys me is that at the post event consultation/ feedback this year, I specifically asked them if the rumours around applying for two weekends next year were true. They told me no. So that was a lie. Anyway, we go again.

Licensing application for 2026 has gone in and they want to extend the event from 4 to 7 days accross two weekends. There are some proposed significant changes to be aware of: Event proposal moves to two separate weekends Number of days of the festival moves from 4 to 7 meaning also a change in the original licence is required Expected footfall in the park over the two weekends around 60,000. Dear Peckham Rye Park Stakeholder, Re: STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION – event application: ‘GALA and On The Rye Festival 2026’ – ref: SWKEVE000935 We are writing to you because you have previously identified yourself as someone who wishes to be informed about event applications for Peckham Rye Park, or we think that you might have an interest in knowing about this particular event application. Please be aware that the council are in receipt of an event application for: GALA and On The Rye Festival 2026’ In line with the council’s Outdoor Events Policy and events application process we are carrying out consultation regarding this application. The following reference documents are attached to this email: Consultation information APPENDIX A – site plan weekend 1 APPENDIX B – site plan weekend 2 APPENDIX C – Production Schedule APPENDIX D – 2025 Noise Management Plan The consultation is open from Tuesday 4 November and will close at midnight on Tuesday 2 December 2025 Community engagement sessions will take place on Wednesday 19 November. If you would like to comment on application: SWKEVE000935 and take part in the online consultation, please visit: www.southwark.gov.uk/GALA2026 If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Kind Regards, Southwark Events Team Environment and Leisure PO Box 64529 London SE1P 5LX 020 7525 3639 @SouthwarkEvents APPENDIX A - SITE PLAN weekend 1.pdf APPENDIX B - SITE PLAN weekend 2.pdf APPENDIX C - PRODUCTION SCHEDULE.pdf And just to add that councillor Renata Hamvas chairs the licensing committee. Worth contacting her with views on ammendments to the original license. I am fairly sure she won't grant any amendments, but just in case.....

No need to wait until next year. They always run a post event feedback meeting. And yes, they were using some new contractors this year because the previous ones were not good enough by their own admission.

This is where I sit too. A two day event is bearable. Three tests my tolerance. Finding the right balance on size, noise and impact is where I contribute to the consultation process. BUT, as I wrote elsewhere, every year the GALA organisers ask/ push for more, and deals have already been done with the council before it gets to public consultation stage. It is also worth pointing out that when a licence was first granted, the orgnaisation was different (We Are the Fair), one of the company directors lived literally next to the park (she left when it became GALA) and the current form bears no resemblance to original ethos/ vision sold to the council and licensing committee. This needs to be pointed out and I am fairly confident local councillors would also support a pushback on any further expansion. We have local elections next year, so councillors ears will be open.

There is no question that the events team makes exceptions to the promoted ethos of Southwark Council on green and ecological standards. This is part of the frustration when challenging the decision to allow an event of this kind in that part of the park. It's hypocrisy, and it's entirely commercially led. Other events have always been held on the common, be that the circus, fun fairs, even the two day Irish festival (back in the day). None of those events have ever caused anything like the level of disurbance or damage to the park and common. Local councillors will tell you that every year, the GALA organisers demand more and more and every year they have to be opposed by those same local councillors. It's exhausting. The consultaions are nothing to do with questioning of the event itself, but are designed to make tweaks and allay fears, because the deal is already done with the council events team by the time things get to that. It's so disrespectful to the idea of consultation and what that should mean.

There is emerging research that nesting birds are impacted by festival noise, especially starlings. Some species rely on acoustic signals that are disrupted by the kind of noise a four day festival produces Why is this research emerging? Because the number of these types of events in urban settings is increasing, and it takes time to do the research and observations required. Evolution is a slow porcess taking thousands of years in most cases. Nesting birds don't evolve to these sudden events, they leave. If there are chicks already hatched, that's a problem. If they don't come back to nest, that alters the local ecology. It matters. This is something I have been looking into and will finally have some case studies to make both the council and event organisaers aware of moving forward. As you say, birds don't know that a huge wall of sound is about to hit them for four days. It disrupts the acoustic fequencies they rely on.

They never disclose that, citing 'commercial confidentiality'. On nesting birds. This has been brought up several times at consultations, asking if the event can change to another time of the year that avoids the nesting season. As you can see, no-one is listening.