No permission yet, but tickets already on sale for Victoria Park festival

Tower Hamlets Council has launched a competition for residents to win free VIP tickets to August’s All Points East festival in Victoria Park, despite the fact that planning permission for the event has yet to be granted — and despite Hackney residents who use the park heavily having no role in the decision and no eligibility for the prize.

A planning application by events company AEG Presents to use the park is still pending at Tower Hamlets. Tickets are already on sale — and Tower Hamlets Council is itself offering two in a competition for its own residents.

A council spokesperson said there was a “clear separation” between its work with AEG Presents and its role in determining planning applications.

A six-year application

Victoria Park, although owned and managed by Tower Hamlets, sits on that borough’s northern boundary with Hackney, its northern edge tracing the Hertford Union Canal and Old Ford Road. The park is the nearest substantial green space for residents of South Hackney, Hackney Wick, and Hackney’s own Victoria Park ward.

AEG Presents wants planning permission to use the park for up to 75 days a year for the next six years to hold All Points East, LIDO festival and a community festival, including set-up and break-down time. The application says the organiser intends to occupy the park for 66 days a year but seeks 75 for “important flexibility, particularly with regards to delays due to inclement weather”.

The organiser says the days will not be consecutive — there will be a “break” of at least 28 days between the two festivals, during which Victoria Park would be returned to public use — and that this is not an “intensification” on its previous use of the park.

‘A disproportionate loss’

Some people living nearby disagree. Mary Pimm, chair of the Victoria Park Community Association, said the length of time applied for was “a totally disproportionate loss of a public amenity”.

Speaking on BBC Radio 2 last week she said: “It blocks off a huge part of the park that people can’t use for normal things that they use the park for.”

In a statement to the Citizen, she said: “Our residents’ association is encouraging our tenants and residents on both sides of the park to register objections – the closing date for submissions is 8 July. 

“We are not remotely saying no to all festivals – they’ve been a part of our park since at least the late ‘70s.

“Just registering that 75 days a year for 6 years is totally disproportionate. After all, Queen Victoria created the park to be a lung for the local people in the East End, many of whom didn’t have gardens”.

Tower Hamlets’ planning website says it aims to determine the application by 1 September. It also shows the council has received at least 86 comments from the public. Hackney residents are able to submit objections to the planning application as members of the public, though no Hackney councillor has a vote in the decision.

The competition

The competition, advertised on Tower Hamlets’ website, is open to Tower Hamlets residents only. Hackney residents, including those for whom Victoria Park is the nearest substantial green space, are not eligible to enter.

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the competition helped to promote engagement with residents, and that festivals in Victoria Park “deliver a wide range of benefits”.

They added that the council’s planning department would determine the application independently. Planning law allows decisions to be made only on the basis of planning policy, regardless of who the applicant is or who might financially benefit.

The spokesperson said: “Victoria Park’s major events programme delivers a wide range of benefits for residents and businesses.

“These include free festival days called In the Neighbourhood which uses the infrastructure from the ticketed events to accommodate a host of community activities and a platform for local artists and local businesses.

“They also provide an income stream which is reinvested into council services including community work, infrastructure improvements and general upkeep and improvements to Victoria Park.

“Free tickets are also made available to residents as part of competition draws. These tickets, which are provided free of charge by AEG, help to improve resident engagement so more residents know about council and partner services that can benefit them.”

They added: “Around two thirds of Victoria Park, including playgrounds, remains open during All Points East, and the footprint for other events such as The Lido is smaller, allowing even greater public access.

“There is a clear separation between the council’s role as local planning authority and the council’s arts, parks and events team working with AEG Presents on the festival plans in Tower Hamlets.”

AEG Presents did not respond to a request for comment.