Agenda item

To consider any requests received in accordance with Standing Orders.

Mr Kevin Duffy was invited to put forward his public question to the Cabinet which had been received in advance of the meeting and was in relation to the Scrutiny Review of Finsbury Park events.

Mr Duffy asked: Even in these straitened times, when council’s have to make difficult decisions on cuts, can it ever be justifiable to promote and authorise events which cause harm to children, lead to increased crime levels and cause major upheaval and dislocation to local communities.

The Leader questioned Mr Duffy’s comment about the harm to children caused by the Park events and asked for a specific expansion of this point via email and she would respond accordingly. In terms of the use of the Parks for events, the Council had chosen to raise income from use of the Parks to finance the upkeep and maintenance of the Parks instead of relinquishing management of parks. The choice by Members in Haringey was to have a policy which enables events at Parks whilst working hard to mitigate the impact on the community when events are held.

Mr Duffy was further invited to put forward the representations of Friends of Finsbury Park in a separate deputation. Mr Duffy welcomed the Scrutiny Review which had become necessary following the events held in the Park in the summer of 2015. He raised the following concerns:

• The Friends of Finsbury Park had not been consulted on the terms of reference of the Scrutiny Review.
• No consideration was given as to whether the events at Finsbury Park were viable or could be scaled down.
• The actions proposed to mitigate the impact of events at Finsbury Park would fail to be effective.
• Not enough consideration was being given to physical and environmental impact on the community, in particular vulnerable communities.
• Some residents did not have use of their gardens after the events
• Local residents were deprived of the Park use during the build up and aftermath of events.
• Controls in place to mitigate impact were being breached.
• Mr Duffy asked Cabinet to reconsider their ambitions for events at Finsbury Park.

The Leader asked the deputation party whether they were unhappy with the level of mitigation proposed to limit the impact on the local community when events take place or if their priority was for events at the park to desist.

In response the deputation party highlighted their understanding of the meaning behind the word ‘mitigation’, which had been frequently referred to by the Scrutiny Panel and questioned whether it was being appropriately applied by the Council to limit impact on communities. They questioned whether any course of mitigation could be successful given the scale of people attending large events that would reach 50,000 and their perceived occupation of the Finsbury Park for events. They felt that no amount of mitigation would mean Finsbury Park, was accessible to the local community when events were being held.

The deputation party asked the Council to work together with the group on a three year plan on a new events policy and look at creative ways to have income without the impact on local communities.

The Leader thanked the deputation for putting forward their representations. The Leader felt it was important to keep in mind that there had been events at Finsbury Park for over 20 years. The Council were working in a financial climate when there was little funding available to maintain Parks. However the Council recognised the value given to Parks by the entire borough and had taken forward an events policy to enable income from events to pay for the upkeep, improvement of Parks rather than relinquishing their management. The Council were keen to ensure that the mitigation of impact was to the highest standard. The Council would continue to work with the community through a constituted body to ensure that mitigation actions are strong and meet the needs of the community.

In response to the points raised on the loss of the Park to the community, the Council would aim to reduce this time.