GALA 2025

[Angelina]

We used to have local councillors posting on this forum - are there any who are still members?

[Sue]

18 minutes ago, Angelina said:

We used to have local councillors posting on this forum - are there any who are still members?

At least one used to post but stopped posting, I think because he was given a really hard time on here, quite unfairly in my view.

He had only just become a councillor, and to his great credit was trying to engage with the community, or at least that vocal part of it which posts on here.

James Barber also  used to post on here, but I think unfortunately he is no longer a councillor. He was a very good one.

[Angelina]

Is there a forum to chat with our councillors? I think it would be worthwhile - there is a lack of engagement and complete silence on something that is having such a negative impact

Edited May 16 by Angelina

[alice]

Brockwell Park first, maybe Peckham Rye  next??

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I can't link, but Daily Mail has article on Brockwell Park possibly having to cancel events after court hearing.

Just checked, Guardian has reported it too!

Edited May 16 by Peckhamgatecrasher
Add info

[Spartacus]

Its also on the bbc 

BBC News - Campaigner wins legal fight over park festivals
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20nkqd30dqo

 

Lambeth's Lawers aren't doung well in the courts at the moment. Bet they won't be in post much longer 😅

[Sue]

34 minutes ago, Peckhamgatecrasher said:

I can't link, but Daily Mail has article on Brockwell Park possibly having to cancel events after court hearing.

Just checked, Guardian has reported it too!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/may/16/campaigners-win-court-case-that-could-ban-festivals-from-london-park-brockwell?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

[first mate]

Has anyone else noticed a small notice, midway on the green, metal barricade, that is flagging another event in September? It seems to be another event organiser has been granted a licence to operate in the same area of the park? Does anyone know more? If Cllr Hamvas is around, perhaps she could shed some light on this and any other plans for further commercial exploitation of our precious park, by this council.

[tedfudge]

We have 16 weeks of road works in the area which is already causing traffic hold ups we are going to have this gala go on to add to the traffic and there are drop off points and pick up points for it at bottom end of barry road for the green badge of doomer ubers to add to the traffic 

[Sue]

21 minutes ago, tedfudge said:

We have 16 weeks of road works in the area which is already causing traffic hold ups we are going to have this gala go on to add to the traffic and there are drop off points and pick up points for it at bottom end of barry road for the green badge of doomer ubers to add to the traffic 

Yes, I was bemused to see that notice in Barry Road. It seemed a strange place to be having a drop off point.

[Rockets]

How long is the Gala, and potential new event, disruption….this could be key from the article on the High Court challenge against Lambeth…

 

Under permitted development rules, a temporary change of use is allowed for a total of 28 days each calendar year, but the Brockwell Park festivals run over 37 days and were due to begin on 23 May.

[HeadNun]

There was something to do a with a gate in the Brockwell case, I can't recall the detail, but the council removed a gate, which had been gifted in trust to the park, so the festival builders could allow access, or something. And that was illegal and that's what enabled Rylance et al to litigate. 

[taper]

5 hours ago, first mate said:

Has anyone else noticed a small notice, midway on the green, metal barricade, that is flagging another event in September? It seems to be another event organiser has been granted a licence to operate in the same area of the park? Does anyone know more? If Cllr Hamvas is around, perhaps she could shed some light on this and any other plans for further commercial exploitation of our precious park, by this council.

I saw that. I'm pretty sure they put the wrong notice up. It seems to refer to a Burgess Park event later in the summer. 

[Penguin68]

15 minutes ago, taper said:

. It seems to refer to a Burgess Park event later in the summer. 

Maybe it's being moved to us now they've had that spot of bother

Edited May 17 by Penguin68

[first mate]

Went to check it again today and it had disappeared...which suggests it was put up mistakenly, thank goodness.

[taper]

21 hours ago, first mate said:

 

I did a bit of research. It was a notice from an event held last year on Burgess Park. 

[first mate]

Thanks Taper, we can assume this was a mistake, thank goodness.

[Penguin68]

https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2025/05/what-next-for-brockwell-live-and-the-lambeth-country-show-high-court-ruling-throws-lambeths-festival-plans-into-chaos/

 

Interesting report

[fishboy]

Gosh, that all sounds so familiar! 

Southwark are constantly holding up their Outdoor Events Policy as proof of process, but then constantly allow exceptions when things aren't quite done correctly. Point in case, Gala's licence application - extract from the Consultation Findings Report -

"The GALA team formally submitted their application to hold GALA 2025 to the council on the 7 October 2024.

It is usually a requirement that applications for larger scale events are submitted with a minimum of 9 months to process them, but discretion can be applied if there are mitigating circumstances.

8.4 of the Outdoor Events Policy clarifies that processing applications received outside the stated lead-in times is at the Council's discretion. In this case:

• The council were aware that Assembled Gala were preparing an application for the event to take place in 2025 in advance of their submission date, with operational discussions already taking place

• GALA festival has been taking place in Peckham Rye Park since 2018 – less time is needed regarding event planning than if it were a new event

• The GALA team already have a Premises Licence in place for this event (this is a pre- requisite for the Event Licence to be issued), so no time needed to be factored in for a premises licence application and decision-making process"

So despite the fact that there would need to be major planning decisions due to the change of site access, they didn't think Gala needed to adhere to the same rules as everyone else? Makes me wonder what other rules they are exempted from...

On a similar note, has anyone received a Resident Communication letter, containing the contact details for issues? We haven't, and we live directly opposite the site on Colyton Rd. They were supposedly distributed on 29/4...

Edited May 19 by fishboy

[Rockets]

Brockwell Park event organises seems to think the High Court ruling is something they can swat away by making a new application...https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0jy97l7kno

 

Interesting comments from the Lib Dem Lambeth leader.....this is oh so familiar....

“This court ruling is a damning indictment of how Labour-run Lambeth has ignored local residents and mismanaged our cherished public spaces.

Labour tried to sidestep the full planning process, excluding residents and an environmental impact assessment. For the second week running, their approach has been overturned in Court. It’s an embarrassment for Lambeth Council.

[malumbu]

Thread is on the Gala.  Some of you can't help but join in on everywhere else because it suits you.  Sad that some of you get such joy. 

And one of you is using large font, it's akin to shouting.

[ConzernedResident]

Do none of you people want anyone to experience joy anywhere near your houses? I've been a local resident for nearly 10 years, and I love that London feels vibrant and alive in the summer and there are festivals and young people enjoying themselves. 

 

Think everyone here needs to take a chill pill 

[Rockets]

26 minutes ago, malumbu said:

Thread is on the Gala.  Some of you can't help but join in on everywhere else because it suits you.  Sad that some of you get such joy. 

But I think there are striking similarities between the way Lambeth has managed the Brockwell events and residents therein and the way Southwark has with Gala.....

27 minutes ago, malumbu said:

And one of you is using large font, it's akin to shouting.

It's how it pastes when you take text from another website (BBC) and is a good way to show that these are someone else's words and not something written by the author! 

[malumbu]

As far as I am aware you have shown no interest in the Gala thread but anything you find to knock a local authority, and no doubt hope that it applies to Southwark LTNs, then off you go. I'd love to hear what you enjoy.  I've been to multiple festivals big and small, in life.  The line up at the Lambeth Show looks good.  Steamdown anyone?

It's a balance between many factors, amenity Vs loss of amenity, disruption including noise during the event, damage to the park, income to the local authority during difficult times.  What is your view on these matters, or is it just a case that you smell meat?

I cycled in the Massif Central when there was a big creative festival and that smelled of BBQ meat.  Similarly a Portuguese festival at Kensington Park.

There are some people round my way who used to complain about the music at the Horniman on a summer Sunday afternoon.  This is not comparable to the disruption due to the Gala, I hasten to add.  But I was stunned at the time thinking how could they have issues with some soul/jazz/afro beat/samba/Latino etc 

Shane they don't have the same number of free events any more.  I digress....

[fishboy]

21 minutes ago, malumbu said:

Shane they don't have the same number of free events any more. 

That's odd, one of the claimed benefits of the Gala money is -

"The site hire fee goes directly to supporting the delivery of the council’s Events service, which supports the delivery of up to 100 free-to-attend community events per year"

I've asked for a list of these events, as without this I feel it can't realistically be used to justify the disruption. Can anyone name even 10 of these events? 5?