Gina Harkell and Katie Dawson, co-chairs of Friends of Finsbury Park

A COMMUNITY group is calling for an end to festivals in Finsbury Park following a High Court ruling that restricts the use of public parks for commercial events.

The Friends of Finsbury Park have spent a decade campaigning for Haringey Council to stop using the park as a “cash cow”. Now, bolstered by a battle that has been raging in south London, they have renewed their efforts.

A ruling by Justice Mould last week that a temporary change of use for events is permitted for only 28 days a year has been heralded as a “landmark judgment” that gives new energy to residents who believe “commercial ventures” should not take over their public parks every summer.

Gina Harkell, chair of the Friends of Finsbury Park, said: “We had a legal challenge back in 2016 but we lost it. We just don’t know what to do. We’ve written a letter to Haringey Council and are waiting for them to respond.

“The main point is how is Haringey going to regulate the number of days?” She said that Finsbury Park is closed for events for 47 days a year, and Brockwell Park, which won the High Court case, for 39 days. She said: “How can we have eight days more? How can they justify it?”

The Friends of Finsbury Park have now sent a letter to Haringey Council chief executive Andy Donald asking how the council plan to comply with the legal ruling.

Over the past 10 years they have repeatedly raised concerns about the environmental damage the huge events cause to the park, as well as the fact that residents have limited access to the park during festivals.

Ms Harkell said: “I don’t think anyone has a clue up at the council what it’s like to live here. They just call us nimbys, but we’re not nimbys, we would just like our park treated like a park rather than some sort of major party destination.”

There are two main festivals that take place in Finsbury Park each summer – Krankbrother and Wireless. The Friends group estimates the park is taken over for a total of 47 days each year, if you count the days used for setting up and taking down stages and other infrastructure.

Ms Harkell told the Tribune: “It is so terrible because it means the park looks like a prison camp. It’s just a maze of walls. The local area loses out, shopkeepers and traders don’t gain anything. I have been talking to traders and most of them say that they’re not making any money. In fact, people are deterred from the area because it’s just bedlam.”

She added: “Afterwards it’s just a wreck, it’s taken such a long time for the ground to recover because it’s been compacted by 300,000 pairs of feet jumping up and down on it.”

The Tribune reported on similar calls for an end to festivals last year, when more than 700 people signed a petition asking the council to cancel the events. At that time, Haringey Council told us that the £1.2million from the events is reinvested into the park.

But Ms Harkell said: “It’s just not good enough. It’s just trashing our park for them to make a pathetic amount of money. Because councils are strapped for cash they let out their venues. They’re just completely in the hands of these promoters.”

According to Ms Harkell Haringey Council are currently paid £6 per festival-goer. Live Nation Entertain­ment, which owns and manages Wireless Festival, is a multibillion-dollar company that owns Ticketmaster and operates 10 festivals across the UK.

Ms Haskell said: “It could be £10, it could be £20, they [Haringey Council] could determine whatever they like. They could charge more and then have a fallow year. Or rotate it round different London parks.”

A Haringey Council spokesperson said that the summer events bring in £1.2million a year. The added: “We will be carefully reviewing the High Court decision. We are monitoring the developing situation in Lambeth and how this relates to our major events in Finsbury Park.

“Our summer events schedule provides a vital boost for local businesses worth millions in extra trade.

“We take seriously our responsibility to maintain Finsbury Park as one of the best green spaces in London and the benefits it brings to the local community. Large swathes of park land and grass are openly accessible and available during events and continue to be enjoyed by the majority of park users.”

Live Nation Entertain­ment had not responded to a request for comment by the time the Tribune went to print.