Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted (edited)
15 hours ago, fishboy said:

We are back to the same construction racket 8am-8pm every day for the whole of this week. The wall is one of the last things to come down, probably on Saturday. Then we can see how much of a mess they've made, especially the quantity of non-biodegradeable litter trampled into the earth.

I am hoping that the damage will not be as bad this year, so that the field can be returned to use for the rest of summer, instead of waiting for reseeding.

I also wonder how the new bund has fared? It had some lovely wild flowers growing in and around it. Hope all that has survived.

Unfortunately, over the GALA period the park pond has suddenly become littered with plastic cups and bottles that have been thrown into the water (I assume thrown as not sure how else they would get in there). This may be pure coincidence but prior to last weekend the pond was clear. Does park management have a way to get onto the pond and fish all the plastic rubbish out, I wonder? It can't be good to leave it.

Edited by first mate
  • Sad 1

"Unfortunately, over the GALA period the park pond has suddenly become littered with plastic cups and bottles that have been thrown into the water (I assume thrown as not sure how else they would get in there). This may be pure coincidence but prior to last weekend the pond was clear. Does park management have a way to get onto the pond and fish all the plastic rubbish out, I wonder? It can't be good to leave it."

it's been very windy the past few days, could be down to that 

I suppose wind could have blown rubbish out of bins down into the pond. But I also counted three footballs and some smaller balls. Regrettably, there is also what seems to be a large dead carp or waterfowl, hard to tell at distance. I just hope the water quality is okay. I am not clear to what extent the pond is managed.

21 hours ago, Angelina said:

the pond needs cleaning regardless of the rubbish being thrown or blown

And they could cull the rats too!  Perhaps they could come to a deal with Gala 😁 

Ps I expect that the rats feed off food dropped throughout the year, and still see people feeding the ducks with bread.  

  • Like 1
26 minutes ago, malumbu said:

And they could cull the rats too!  Perhaps they could come to a deal with Gala 😁 

Ps I expect that the rats feed off food dropped throughout the year, and still see people feeding the ducks with bread.  

Yes, I was stopped in my tracks last week by a rat that had joined a number of pigeons feeding off some food left for the birds on the path around the lake.

I don't eat meat but if I had an air rifle the various vermin would be very afraid.  I've trapped squirrels in the loft, I wont go any further on that one.

The Horniman Nature Reserve rats will take on any of yours, apart from....

Cox's walk which takes on another level.  During Covid it felt like you were in Hamelin.  

image.jpeg.690d3fccd766b12797d741e8bb83246b.jpeg

  • Haha 1
Posted (edited)
On 30/05/2025 at 12:26, cookie said:

I do know that Gala had a team of litter pickers working non-stop the whole time I was there, so efforts are made to keep the park litter free.

Sorry for dragging this back on topic, but earlier I had a discussion with Luca the site manager who was also singing the praises of the 'new' waste management team. He invited me on to the ground to the east of the 'parkrun start' path to check out how well they'd done. Within 20 paces I'd picked up (and given to him) 2 cellophane filter tip wrappers, 3 fag butts, a 2" screw, assorted scraps of plastic wrappers....!

He awkwardly then said they were still onsite, and sent 1 guy out to litter pick. He also made the statement that it's "an impossible task".

I will be over there tomorrow to find, collect and document all the remaining litter, to assist with next year's consultation. I think it's important to pass on that type of information?

Edited by fishboy
  • Thanks 2
  • Agree 1
1 hour ago, fishboy said:

Sorry for dragging this back on topic, but earlier I had a discussion with Luca the site manager who was also singing the praises of the 'new' waste management team. He invited me on to the ground to the east of the 'parkrun start' path to check out how well they'd done. Within 20 paces I'd picked up (and given to him) 2 cellophane filter tip wrappers, 3 fag butts, a 2" screw, assorted scraps of plastic wrappers....!

He awkwardly then said they were still onsite, and sent 1 guy out to litter pick. He also made the statement that it's "an impossible task".

I will be over there tomorrow to find, collect and document all the remaining litter, to assist with next year's consultation. I think it's important to pass on that type of information?

Have a chat with him about employing voluntary litter pickers, they do this at many festivals, in return getting free entry.

  • Agree 1
3 hours ago, fishboy said:

He awkwardly then said they were still onsite, and sent 1 guy out to litter pick. He also made the statement that it's "an impossible task".

I will be over there tomorrow to find, collect and document all the remaining litter, to assist with next year's consultation. I think it's important to pass on that type of information?

I suspect it is really difficult as stuff gets ground in and that is the problem. My own view is the event should be moved to a more suitable site. It is fairly clear they want to expand, I think that is the biggest problem, the risk of the event getting extended or other event organisers getting in on the action.

It is great that the barriers are down and the park can be fully enjoyed again. The damage to grass does not seem as bad this year; I suspect that is because there has been much less rainfall.

 

  • Agree 2
Posted (edited)

This is the relevant passage, I believe

"Southwark Council (Peckham Rye, Burgess Park, Southwark Park) will earn a projected £440,000 from events in its parks in 2025, up from £340,000 in 2024. Events include GALA Festival in Peckham Rye, August’s Boiler Room, Jazz Café and Maiden Voyage in Burgess Park, and RALLY festival in Southwark Park."

What would of course be interesting to know is what they spend this on. Is there any transferred benefit to those local people who live around and use these facilities? But I wouldn't hold your breath for an answer.

Edited by Penguin68

The problem is, I'm not sure what the going rate is for park land for festivals of this nature. I'm sure they are paying less than outfits pay for access to the big stadia - but these have better facilities and are normally better for public transport. I am also sure that Councils could press for more, and should do so, but of course there isn't really a shortage of council lands to exploit, so these entrepreneurs could go elsewhere.

What I would like to know is how much of the suggested £440,000 this year for Southwark is net profit - what are their costs in getting and administering this let? If this is a gross figure then what do they actually have as 'surplus'?

But at least we have a starting point now - even if it's a guess I'm thinking it's a reasonably informed one.

  • Like 1
On 01/06/2025 at 09:49, Penguin68 said:

What would of course be interesting to know is what they spend this on.

These statements were in the Consultation Findings report published (later than promised) just before the licence was granted: 

"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 – please refer to section 1 (Licensing and income)"

I've drafted an email to request some more details of these "free-to-attend" events, as "up to" is a fairly meaningless description - could be 100, could be none? - and therefore doesn't help anyone to decide whether it is actually a benefit to the community or not. Even if it is 100, I'm not sure I could name even one of them?

"The site hire fee goes directly to supporting the provision of a grants fund – the Cultural Celebrations programme - please refer to section 1 (Licensing and income)"

A similarly meaningless statement in terms of gauging whether, or how much, this is a benefit to the local community. What is it, what does it do, how much of the fee goes to it?

And how can the fee go "directly" to two different things? Surely, "directly" means without deviation, straight to, without being changed or reduced?? Again, I'll be asking all these questions to the events dept.

I find it outrageous & insulting that a public body can try to justify such an intrusive & disruptive event with such flimsy and opaque "benefits", with zero figures or details to quantify them. They may as well not bother with a consultation, just say "Look, we can't be arsed to justify our decision, it's happening so just deal with it".

 

* Big, sick & tired sigh *

Ok, so here is this year's small selection of Gala litter that has been left behind. I have to emphasise, it is only a small part of what is still there, collected on Tuesday from a relatively small area in the south of the ex-site. I also have to emphasise this only took about an hour of slow wandering, using only my eyes & hands - no specialist equipment, and I'm not a paid employee of a specialist waste management company. And to confirm, this is after "The site was checked at the end of GALA’s tenancy and found to be clear of event-related litter" by the Council / Parks Dept.

There's 488 items there, many of which would be potentially hazardous to children, pets & wildlife. Not least the small bag in the bottom left corner, still containing a suspicious white substance. I'm hoping to pass this on to the police for testing, ensuring it is recorded for the purposes of next year's licence consideration. 

Please - before anyone posts any comments defending this, denying it is festival related, insulting me, whatever - just go and have a close look yourself, particularly where the tents, stages & toilets were sited. It's obviously from the festival, and there's still loads of it there, all over our park. It is literally being trashed, year after year, despite repeated assurances from the organisers. 

I'm sick of it, it's just so depressing.

IMG_20250612_131602585.jpg

  • Thanks 1
  • Sad 1
  • 2 weeks later...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jun/26/cardiff-blackweir-festival-bute-park-dispute?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Another example of a badly sited festival, and a council bending over for the cash. What amazes me is the similarity in every way to Gala - large areas annexed but the council trying to convince everyone it's only a tiny part of the park. Claiming that the flora & fauna is being protected when the reality is a tick-box environmental survey that's not worth the paper it's written on.

All very depressing.

  • Agree 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Where did I say he did a good job? Yup and Corbyn was very close to Len McCluskey and funded by Unite wasn't he...they're all as bad as each other... Labour have to purge their party of the far-left - they're a disaster. Allan Johnson summed it up so well on election night in 2019....  
    • Thank you for the detailed advise @trinidad It is definitely damage we are concerned about. I don’t think Evri would agree to pay the bill to fix our gate or letter box if they were to be damaged as a result of their delivery drivers helper. Our doorbell can be heard from outside when rung so we don’t quite believe the aggressive simultaneous door/letter box banging is necessary. It can be quite a shock it is done very aggressively.  I’ll definitely action the steps you’ve kindly provided along with a phone call tomorrow. I do sympathise with the role drivers have and how busy they are, which is why we tried communicating directly with her but sadly we haven’t succeeded 
    • What outcome would you like? Disciplinary action? Not to have the driver back? Retraining? I know there is alot of pressure on drivers to deliver within a set day. if he slams the gate, is it evidence he is causing damage, or is the noise a irritant to yourself? You could put a sign up or buy a signing asking to close the gate gentle???? can you hear the door bell from the door? he might be ringing, not hearing and therefore knocking. In trhe notes section of the be livery page, there is a note section, although there is not 100 per cent these notes would be read as these drivers are constantly rushing.  I did a google search for you, i found this and you can try the envri website Contact Us | Evri   To complain to Evri, you can follow these steps: Contact Customer Service: Call Evri's customer service at 0330 808 5456 for assistance with your complaint.    1 Write a Letter: Address your complaint to Capitol House, 1 Capitol Close, Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS27 0WH.    1 Use the Official Website: Visit the Evri complaints page on their official website for detailed instructions on how to submit a complaint.    2 Email or Call for Specific Issues: For issues like missing or damaged parcels, you can email or call 0800 988 8888, which is free to call.    1 These methods will help you effectively communicate your concerns to Evri.   My driver is called anthony, he is brilliant to be honest. I cant fault him.
    • When I have more time and energy, I will look up the actual number of votes cast for each party in that election, rather than the number of seats won. I'm interested to see that you apparently  think that  Boris Johnson did a good job of "leading the country through Covid." Is your memory really that short? I won't stoop to calling Johnson and his cronies names in the way that you seem to think is appropriate for left wing politicians. At least the left wing politicians have some semblance of morals and a concern for people who aren't in some over privileged inner circle and/or raking in money for themselves on the back of an epidemic. I'm not going to open a can of worms on here  by commenting on the disgraceful so called "purge". 
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...