Thursday 14 July 2011

Shoreditch Park festivals - your views


In recent years Shoreditch Park has become an increasingly popular site for festivals and other events. This year has already seen three major events take place on the Ply Park area on the eastern side of the park - The Bionic Film Show, the 1234 Festival (see picture above) and Summer Rites.

In previous years we have taken up specific issues relating to the festivals after they have been raised to us by residents - in 2010, we raised issues around toilets and stewarding at 1234.

This year the De Beauvoir Councillors have received far more complaints from residents than we have in previous years. We are currently working through these and ensuring they get a proper response from the Council.

As part of this we would be pleased to hear from other residents who have concerns they want to raise with us, or just want to be kept informed of the progress we are making.

In terms of park events later this year and beyond, there are two key things to highlight - London Oktoberfest and the Shoreditch Park Users Group.

In late September and early October, London Oktoberfest will take place in the park, occuring over two weekends from 22nd September to 2nd October. Due to an oversight by the Council, the De Beauvoir Councillors were only informed of this event last week, with the licence for the event having already been granted at the start of this year. This is obviously a very significant event running over a number of days, and - from where we are now - we are concerned to ensure that its impact upon residents is minimised wherever possible. We will be speaking with the organisers to ensure their plans are clear and well thought out, and that they are aware of residents concerns.

In terms of ensuring future events are well selected and managed, at each park in Hackney, the park users group is a key forum which council officers use to engage residents and ensure their concerns are listened to when park events are proposed. All event proposals are brought in front of the group for consultation. Unfortunately, the Shoreditch Park Users Group recently folded, meaning this channel of communication is currently closed for Shoreditch Park.

The Council are keen to form a new Users Group for Shoreditch Park and have asked the Councillors to seek out residents who might be interested in being a part of the Group. If you are interested please do get in touch.

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