GALA 2025

[Rockets]

33 minutes ago, malumbu said:

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 think the point you're missing is that our local authorities are happy to siphon off the amenities we pay for for commercial gain at the cost of local residents. Both Peckham Rye (and Brockwell Park more so) become partly unusable because of said events and it seems both are ignoring the input of locals who have to live with the disruption/post event damage. And it is not clear where any revenue generated from these events is going to or if they are actually generating any revenue for the council at all.

As someone who uses Brockwell Park a lot I can tell you the disruption to that park was awful last year so much of it is closed off.

And as Fishboy points out you lament the old free festivals but these are supposed to be being funded by this type of event - but where are they? Dulwich Park festival was massively curtailed this year so how come it's fine for the council to roll over for commercial festivals but community run events are suffering? Do the councils not have their priorities a bit mixed up?

Anyway, I have always hated inner-city "festivals". Give me a proper in the wilds of the countryside miles from anywhere festival any day of the week....

[first mate]

58 minutes ago, malumbu said:

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 

I loved those Horniman events. But the musicians turned up, people listened, they had a good time and then went home, it was a short-lived event. The difference with Gala is the level of disruption for weeks beforehand and after; it is not about the music but everything else. I hate seeing a huge section of park barricaded off, turned into a giant building site, with large vehicles and fencing everywhere, and security standing or sitting at all the entrances- it feels weird and it affects the vibe of the park.

 

[tedfudge]

1 hour ago, first mate said:

I loved those Horniman events. But the musicians turned up, people listened, they had a good time and then went home, it was a short-lived event. The difference with Gala is the level of disruption for weeks beforehand and after; it is not about the music but everything else. I hate seeing a huge section of park barricaded off, turned into a giant building site, with large vehicles and fencing everywhere, and security standing or sitting at all the entrances- it feels weird and it affects the vibe of the park.

 

Your right but also the amount of crime this may cause through robbery of phones and money , people urinating in the street up against people's walls and houses when they leave , the possible vandalism to people's cars the drugs ( users and dealers ) that may show up , the possible violence through fighting or stabbings and god forbid any sort of sexual assaults ... this is another concern for people in the area... 

[fishboy]

4 hours ago, ConzernedResident said:

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 

So to enable people to experience 3 days of 'joy', our family has to endure two weeks of 7 days a week, 12 hours a day construction noise around 50m from our front window. That's HGVs driving up & down the road, constant reversing beeps from fork lifts & tractors, scaffolding poles crashing, pneumatic wrenches rattling, shouting etc etc. from 8am to 8pm. Every day. Even Sundays.

Do you have all that near your house?

Then there's the anti social behaviour during the festival, right outside our home - minicabs arriving, punters jumping out, chucking bottles and cans on the floor, having a quick p*ss against the wall, then off to the festival to have their 'joy'. Again & again, all afternoon & evening. For the whole bank holiday weekend. Guys having nitrous oxide parties in their cars, right outside our home at midnight, 1am. 

Do you have all that near your house? 

And then there's the strike afterwards, more construction noise for another week - 8am to 8pm, every day - then they disappear, leaving the park covered in fag butts, bottle tops, ring pulls, cable ties, cellophane filter tip tubes, disposable vapes, all usually trampled into the ground so that they are virtually impossible to remove. And then several months for the grass to almost recover enough for people to use again, except by then the summer is long gone. 

Do you really think a "chill pill" is going to miraculously resolve all this? Please, have some empathy for people who are really impacted by this event. I've nothing against festivals, but they need to be located in a suitable space, and a small public park close to residential homes isn't it.

[jazzer]

3 hours ago, malumbu said:

 

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....

It was the Jerk Off festival, nothing wrong with that, the issue was with some of those who attended who's behaviour on the surrounding roads was unacceptable to residents. 

[malumbu]

Nope that concern predates the Jerk festival.  But I am talking about when I first moved to SE London and some locals complained that the nice music was too loud.

Separately some people are still moaning about the Jerk festival,  Felt some comments were (casual) racist, but that is a different subject matter. That day was great,  A victim of its own success. Akin to Fatboy Slim playing a free festival on Brighton beach, quarter if a million went but it took a long long time to clean up. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Beach_Boutique_II

Edited Tuesday at 12:35 by malumbu

[first mate]

9 hours ago, fishboy said:

Do you really think a "chill pill" is going to miraculously resolve all this? Please, have some empathy for people who are really impacted by this event. I've nothing against festivals, but they need to be located in a suitable space, and a small public park close to residential homes isn't it.

This is the point, this is an increasingly large scale event in the wrong location. 

[Angelina]

the insult and frustration is that we have no recourse given the council turn a blind eye. 

[Rockets]

This is fascinating about how Lambeth are thought to be getting around the High Court ruling to allow the Brockwell events to proceed.....seems a risky legal strategy if true...and not sure I would want to be the council planning legal person who signs this off.....

 

https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2025/05/protect-brockwell-park-fires-fresh-warning-as-lambeth-council-doubles-down-on-disputed-festival-plan/

Worth reading the whole piece for context but this section stands out:

Despite this, Brockwell Live has submitted a new certificate application — one which they admit still covers more than 28 days, and is therefore not materially different from the version the court already struck down.

It looks like instead of going to the Court of Appeal — where they’d surely lose — Brockwell Live is now asking Lambeth Planning to second-guess the High Court and decide whether the judge was right.

Despite the clarity of the court’s decision, Lambeth appears to be doubling down, relying on a legal interpretation that’s already been rejected by a judge — and now asking its own planning department to endorse a position the judiciary has ruled unlawful.

[malumbu]

Why don't you start a new thread about Brockwell Park?  I promise that I won't post on it 👍

Edited Wednesday at 14:39 by malumbu
Added the thumbs up

[HeadNun]

Mal, like it or not, it does have some bearing on other councils. There was an item about it on Times Radio on Sunday - Kate Borsay, a presenter who lives locally, referenced Peckham Rye in relation to the Brockwell case. As the reporter pointed out, local councils will all be talking to each other and closely following how things unfold. If a precedent is set with Brockwell, other councils will be under greater scrutiny. 

[Rockets]

Mal, it is related to this issue and if you scroll back a few pages you will see that Brockwell was brought up in relation to this (not by me I hasten to add). Do you not think it seems perfectly reasonable for people to be able to reference a neighbouring event - one that is having a number of challenges not too dissimilar to the ones Gala is having?  

 

These sentences from the BrixtonBuzz article I linked seem very pertinent too: 

The concern, they argue, is not just about permits, but about the Council’s repeated failure to follow proper planning processes and its habit of acting in the interests of commercial promoters rather than the local community.

 

And this:

The group is now calling on residents to write to their local MP and councillors, accusing the Council of using legal mechanisms to avoid scrutiny.

[Angelina]

That is the similar issue with Peckham Rye - the council have prioritised commercial interests over the community (residents and environment), and utterly shameless in doing so.

For a council to be wilfully cirumventing legal ruling, is more than alarming. Their actions should always be transparent and beyond reproach, not shady and biased for particular commercial interest.

It raises the question of where else they manipulate commercial interests and generally look to break rules.

 

 

[jazzer]

Anyone know when the road works by the junction of Barry Road/Peckham Rye and outside Harris boys school appeared, got caught up in them late last night, coupled to the Rye Lane works it is making travel cumbersome. 

[Penguin68]

Monday I think. Just adds to all the fun and so well timed. Why just have annoyance when misery could be in play? 

[Spartacus]

If you think councils play fair thwn this may open your eyes 

https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2025/05/from-unlawful-to-approved-in-48-hours-lambeths-magic-planning-trick-gives-brockwell-live-the-green-light/

[HeadNun]

That's incredibly devious

[first mate]

Yes it is  devious and it feels not dissimilar to Maga shenanigans over the pond, putting a bill through in the middle of the night.

The weather forecast does not look great for Gala- light rain forecast. Hoping the forecast is accurate and rainfall is not heavier ( thinking about the impact at Brockwell, last year).

[Earl Aelfheah]

1 hour ago, Spartacus said:

If you think councils play fair thwn this may open your eyes 

https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2025/05/from-unlawful-to-approved-in-48-hours-lambeths-magic-planning-trick-gives-brockwell-live-the-green-light/

An example of Lambeth behaving badly tells you nothing about 'all councils'. 

...I'm not defending Lambeth obviously. 

 

[Angelina]

Will be interesting to see how this plays out, after the event.

 

 

[Penguin68]

24 minutes ago, Earl Aelfheah said:

An example of Lambeth behaving badly tells you nothing about 'all councils'. 

If the argument was 'all councils are bad' that would be clearly true, but as much of the debate has been about 'once a council is elected, what it does is right and mandated' I think there is greater merit in using this as a debating point. 

[Angelina]

Honestly don't know what Lambeth are thinking - they should consider their reputation, loss of public trust, legal challenges and findings of maladministration.

Perhaps they have and don't care.

It stinks of commercial bias and contempt for the legal process and public.

 

[Earl Aelfheah]

36 minutes ago, Penguin68 said:

much of the debate has been about 'once a council is elected, what it does is right and mandated' 

I may have missed it, but I don't think anyone has made that argument have they? 

4 minutes ago, Angelina said:

Honestly don't know what Lambeth are thinking - they should consider their reputation, loss of public trust, legal challenges and findings of maladministration.

Perhaps they have and don't care.

It stinks of commercial bias and contempt for the legal process and public.

 

I don't know, but suspect they've figured the costs of cancelling at this late stage are greater than the costs of losing another legal challenge. I agree that if so, it's putting commercial considerations over legal process.

Edited 7 hours ago by Earl Aelfheah

[Cyclemonkey]

I suspect it was putting "not bankrupting Lambeth Council" considerations first.

Cancelling those festivals at a week to go could have been financially catastrophic and may have unleashed financial hell on Lambeth.

[Rockets]

2 hours ago, Angelina said:

Will be interesting to see how this plays out, after the event.

I suspect Lambeth's legal team have decided that it is far better to potentially upset a High Court judge (maybe beg for forgiveness) than face the wrath of the legal teams of event organisers, promoters, service providers who would come after them for a lot of money if the event had to be cancelled. Clearly the original error was on the part of the council so I suspect that would make them liable for any losses/reputation damage incurred due cancellation/disruption.