THE FRIENDS OF FINSBURY PARK
Manor House Lodge, Seven Sisters Road, London, N4 2DE
@finsparkfriends | thefriendsoffinsburypark@gmail.com 

Dear Cllr Worrell,
Cllr Dunstall and Cllr Culverwell,
Cllr Brabazon and Cllr Abela 

AS you all know, The Friends of Finsbury Park have opposed the use of the park for major private events like Festival Republic and Krankbrothers since 2014. The damage experienced in 2024 is again devastating to see. Our principled stance on private events in public parks has not changed but we would like the council to consider some compromises and change to get the best value for Haringey residents, better-run events to reduce impact on the park and on the surrounding community and proper investment in the park.

1. Best Value 

WHILST we understand the constraints of local government, we do not feel Haringey Council is getting ‘Best Value’ for its residents. We are therefore writing to you as our local MPs to urge you to support our proposal to Haringey Council to reduce the festivals to once every other year and increase the charge for park rental. Instead of the Council charging Festival Republic approx. £5 per person we suggest an increase to £10 which would bring in approx. £3m a year instead of £1.2m which is their stated income. The council would gain, not lose money. The damage to the park and its ecology would be greatly reduced as it would enable a ‘fallow’ year, like Glastonbury and the community would get every other year enjoying their park and neighbourhood during the summer months. We believe this would be a fair compromise for the Council and community. 

We have put this suggestion to Cllr Arkell and were deeply concerned by her reply. She suggested it would not be possible for the Council to charge events companies more money as this would raise ticket prices and make the ‘festival unaffordable’ to the consumer. This implies the council is involved in corporate subsidies for multi-national billion-dollar companies. If the events companies wish to pass the extra cost on to their consumer rather than absorb the cost, say via a reduction in shareholder profits, that would be a business decision for them. The council’s responsibility is to get ‘Best Value’ for its residents not to subsidise corporations.

2. Stop the cycle of year-on-year damage 

THE damage to the park compounds year on year in part because it barely recovers from the previous year but also with the unpredictable climate we now have, heavy rains and heat waves in summer exacerbate the damage. This year large areas of the south facing field parallel to Seven Sisters became another muddy area which has now dried to bare earth. To mop up the sodden soil, wood chippings were laid on top of it. This is not good practice according to our ecologist or the parks team on the ground and has been stopped in other London parks. Some were scrapped up, but the other chippings are now embedded in the soil which disrupts the ability for the grass to recover and grow back leaving longer term bare patches of soil. 

Reseeding will be taking place later this month and October which means a large area of the park has been unusable from June to well into autumn and likely into next year.

We are heartened, Peray and Emily to hear of Labour’s plans to appoint a Nature Envoy. This is also needed on a smaller, more local scale to tackle the ecological and biodiversity crisis and we ask that you start this progressive agenda in your own back garden, so to speak. 

The damage to the pavements and carriageway is a disgrace, especially considering most of the money from the Heritage Fund, in conjunction with Historic England, went on resurfacing and strengthening part of it at the expense of many other parks projects. We understand that Haringey agreed with the Lottery Fund to maintain the improvements. The rest of the carriageway is not meant for heavy articulated vehicles. Paths are left unrepaired and dangerous for months after events. For two years running, the large gates at Endymion Rd have been smashed off. Again, another reason to give the park and community a rest every other year. 

3. One designated event area 

THE Krankbrothers event is held in the most nature-rich part of the park on the north side amongst our historic London Plane trees and American Gardens. We think one area should be used for events to reduce the degrading impact on the rest of the park. If the council is determined to persist with events, then we think they should be held on the main bandstand field. 

4. Better access and safety management 

THE footprint of both large events seems to have grown again this year without warning with the perimeter fences squeezing locals into smaller pathways and the remainder of the park was full of event infrastructure. Access to the cafe and play areas was reduced as the main carriageway from the Seven Sisters entrance was blocked with pedestrians and cyclists sharing a narrow and hazardous path (image attached) along the railway line from Seven Sisters entrance to Oxford Rd gate.

Finsbury Park is an important cycle route for people connecting to Cycleway 38 and so this narrow path become very dangerous with 3 cyclists reported serious accidents to us and the council as a result. It was also unsafe with 9ft high fences trapping you in, limiting sightlines and nowhere to exit if you needed to in an emergency. This added to the lack of safety for women, children and vulnerable people as well as being inaccessible for those with disabilities. To access the tennis courts (image attached), you had to traverse poles holding up the events fences. Not safe and certainly not accessible. The children’s play areas often appeared closed to families (image attached), with families not knowing they could ask guards to open them up.

5. Reduce the overbearing security 

TO protect the event companies’ assets from gate crashers, a double perimeter of security walls is now needed and to protect families from event attendees play areas are fenced off. Security is stationed all around the fences and in the children’s playground which often had its fences shut so parents and children were unable to access the facilities. When the fences were open the play areas had security guards patrolling them. This has created a hostile environment with the park looking and feeling more like a prison complex. The community deserve every other year off from this.

6. Licencing terms need amendment to tighten and enforcement 

AS part of the ‘Contract for Hire’ it is stated that a requirement of three metres minimum distance for any equipment sited within close proximity to any tree. This is also stated in the Finsbury Park Management Plan 2023. This again has not been reinforced by the council, yet there are never penalties for these breaches. Along with heavy weights on top of roots systems, trees have suffered from heavy steel walls supported by metre long steel pins screwed into the ground through their root systems. Many branches were sawn off, apparently for safety, while tree safety issues in other parts of the park have been waiting years to be rectified. Toilet blocks were stacked on top of a memorial tree, hedges were chopped right down during bird-nesting season and wildflower areas were mown short reducing habitats for nesting pollinators.

Noise and vibration continue to be an issue for the community with the council repeating ‘not breaching licencing terms’ to all complainants. Vibration is now exacerbated by ‘synchronised jumping’ and compaction by over 300,000 festival goers pounding the ground. This compaction removes the ability for soil to absorb the shock waves and sends the vibrations straight out affecting not only the surrounding blocks of flats but rows of terraces for miles. With more and more housing around the park this is negatively affecting more homes with the increased worry of long-term structural damage.

Compaction is also a threat to tree health, reducing water, air in the soil and restricting root development. This again is another powerful reason for alternate years for festivals and why licencing terms need to be amended to reflect the venue, with vibration-monitoring added to the licencing terms. 

The clean up afterwards by the events company is poor and badly monitored by the council. Every year we see poles, screws and equipment left behind. This year a dog was impaled on a pole left sticking out, resulting in the animal needing surgery. We are left with the feeling that the council cannot cope with the size of this event and struck by how much of parks staffs time it takes up. Host events every other year would give the parks team the chance to focus on the ecology, management and improvement of the park during the fallow year. 

The Friends of Finsbury Park would like to convene a meeting between MPs and Haringey Council to discuss our Six-point proposal to have festivals every other year rather than every single summer at an increased revenue to the council. To have better safety and ecological management around the events perimeter and in the remaining park, to amend licencing terms that reflect that this is an outdoor venue in a densely populated area, less intrusive security reflecting this is still a public community park and a single event space in order to preserve the rest of the park. The degradation of our park is intolerable and to protect it for the future, we can see no other way. 

We look forward to hearing from you and working with you to get a fairer and more sustainable deal for Haringey and its surrounding community. 

Yours sincerely, 

Bethany Anderson and Tom Graham – Co Chairs FoFP 

Gina Harkell – Events lead FoFP