In our first legal challenge, the High Court confirmed that the duration of a temporary use must be judged by when the land actually returns to its normal use. (Meaning that full planning permission should have been sought for events of this length.)
This year, that didn't happen until 16 June - only after the event walls came down and all infrastructure was removed (arguably longer given that areas are still roped off due to serious surface damage). That means the 2025 events went ahead unlawfully.
Since then, Lambeth Council has tried to downplay the ruling by issuing a slightly amended certificate, treating the breach as a technicality and misrepresenting the judge's clear reasoning. The Council has also appealed the High Court's decision.
We've now launched a second judicial review to challenge this new certificate.
This next case - and resisting the Council's appeal - is our chance to make the original judgment watertight and prevent future misuse of planning powers. If we don't act, this false loophole could be used again in Brockwell Park and other parks across the country.
This campaign is about the park as a green public space and Lambeth Council's pattern of dodging scrutiny. It stops now.
If you are as shocked as we are that Lambeth Council only wants to listen to the event promoters, and not the local community, please write to your MP and councillor:
Helen Hayes MP - helen.hayes.mp@parliament.uk
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP - bell.ribeiroaddy.mp@parliament.uk
Lambeth Councillors - londoncouncils.gov.uk/london-directory/lambeth
We know there are many questions, so we've put together some FAQs to help clarify the situation:
Q: Why did you go to court?
A: Legal action was a last resort. Lambeth repeatedly refused to engage with us or address serious concerns we've raised over many months. We could only take Lambeth to court after it had made important delayed key decisions that should have been considered and dealt with properly last year.
Q: Will there be an appeal?
A: The High Court refused Lambeth and Brockwell Live permission to appeal. They could apply to the Court of Appeal, but in light of the Judge's strong comments, we believe they will struggle to proceed.
Q: Are you trying to cancel the festivals?
A: No. Our goal was never to cancel Brockwell Live. We simply wanted events to be sustainable and appropriate for a historic, delicate park. Brockwell Park hasn't recovered from the damage caused by the last few years of festivals, and we are deeply concerned that another round this year would cause long-term ecological harm. We believe a public park should be accessible to all, not fenced off and exploited for profit by global investment companies, like KKR that have no connection to the local community resources they exploit.
Q: Will you take further action?
A: Lambeth, as a public authority, is obligated to implement the Court's decision and revoke the permission it gave to Brockwell Live. The Council has a duty of care to ensure the park remains accessible to everyone. We've asked them to confirm that Brockwell Live's fencing and equipment will be removed immediately. We will of course be considering further steps in due course, dependent on their next steps.
Q: What happens next year?
A: We sincerely hope Lambeth will now engage with us, and its duties lawfully and fairly. We remain committed to ensuring Brockwell Park is protected, and that any future events serve the local community and the Park. We are not anti-events, we want events that are respectful, sustainable, and truly beneficial for everyone.
'No Walls' Action in Brockwell Park
Lambeth Council set to Defy High Court and Continue to Ignore Concerned Residents Over Brockwell Park Festivals
The latest legal dispute over Lambeth Council's approach to the use of Brockwell Park for festivals will reach another climax on Thursday, when Lambeth Council decide Brockwell Live's last gasp attempt to secure permission for its festivals outside of the normal planning process.
Just last week the High Court held that Lambeth Council had behaved both irrationally
and unlawfully when authorising the festivals via 'Permitted Development', allowing
Brockwell Live to bypass applying for full planning permission, which would include
impact assessments and scrutiny by the public and councillors.
A pattern of behaviour by Lambeth Council
Worst of all this is by no means the first time.
In 2018 Lambeth Council was forced to withdraw the event licence issued for a series of festivals including Field Day. In 2021 the Local Government Ombudsmen found Lambeth Council allowed festivals on Clapham Common to proceed unlawfully without the necessary consents, and said that Lambeth Council was setting a "poor example" in not holding itself "to the same standards it holds the people it serves to". And in 2024 Lambeth Council failed to obtain (or even apply for) any valid planning permission for the Lambeth Country Show, despite their own planning oUicers' report noting that the commercial events would use all remaining Permitted Development days (historically reserved for the Lambeth Country Show) and full planning permission would be required.
This is all on top of yet another High Court judgment against Lambeth Council in the last month, which ruled that Lambeth Council's failure to properly take account of community feedback over the implementation of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods was so grave that their decision was unlawful.
Protect Brockwell Park, a local residents' group, says there is a "clear pattern of behaviour here" and Lambeth council is showing a "total disregard for the courts, the law and the communities it is elected to serve and represent".
Intimidating tactics of festival promoter
If that wasn't enough, Summer Events Limited, which is running Brockwell Live, has
used lawyers to send threatening and intimidatory letters to Community campaigners at
their home addresses, seeking to silence them and to close down debate about last
week's court ruling that the festivals are unlawful. These so called "SLAPP" letters are
notorious and are prohibited by legal regulators.
The new certificate
For their part Brockwell Live have tried to explain away last week's High Court decision
as being confined to a technicality and very narrow point of law. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Re-applying for a certificate, last minute, by simply changing the
number of days on the application form to 24 days, when the facts on the ground are
clearly that the festivals programme (including set up and set down) is still a minimum
of 37 days - is clearly nonsense. The High Court was also clear last week that all set-up
and set-down days count towards the permitted development period, contrary to
Lambeth Council's past practice.
Referring to the latest amended certificate application submitted overnight, Solicitors
acting for Protect Brockwell Park stated in legal correspondence that this "latest
amendment is desperate, legally flawed and factually unbelievable. [The event
organisers] are taking Lambeth Council and local residents for mugs. Local residents
are not mugs. The Council will have to demonstrate that they are not mugs either."
Call for Accountability
Campaigners say Lambeth Council is ignoring the substance of the court ruling and the
ongoing harm to the park and its users, and playing legal games to outmanoeuvre the
courts and silence residents. "That should alarm everyone who believes in fair
governance and safeguarding scarce precious urban green spaces," said a Protect
Brockwell Park spokesperson.
Protect Brockwell Park urges residents, journalists, political leaders and parties
including local MPs, Sadiq Khan and national political parties to intervene urgently
and demand accountability from Lambeth Council.
Protect Brockwell Park (PBP) is calling out Lambeth Council's misleading narrative around the Brockwell Live festivals.
We are not anti-festival: we support well-run, inclusive events. But these large-scale, high-impact commercial festivals are damaging Brockwell Park's ecology, heritage, and community value. The park is being overused and under-protected.
The Council cites a promoter-funded desk study to claim "no environmental damage." This report involved no site visits or baseline surveys, and fails to assess the cumulative harm. Meanwhile, residents see the real impact: destroyed grasslands, damaged trees, compacted soil, and degraded heritage paths.
Claims that festivals boost local business are also questionable. Many traders report reduced footfall and disrupted operations during event periods.
We urge Lambeth to rethink its approach. Brockwell Park is a public green space, not a commercial venue. The model must change before it's too late.
#ProtectBrockwellPark #BrockwellLive #LambethCouncil #UrbanGreenspace #StopTheDamage #GreenSpacesMatter
PBP launched a Judicial Review [wikipedia] against the council. The hearing was on Thursday 15 May and the judgment handed down the following day: High Court win for Protect Brockwell Park!
Lambeth has lost the legal challenge. The High Court found Lambeth Council acted unlawfully and irrationally in issuing the planning certificate that the Council relied on to justify Brockwell Live as lawful in planning terms, has been quashed.
Update Following Our High Court Win
We wanted to share an update, along with more context on the recent legal developments.
First and foremost, we regret that legal action became necessary. Unfortunately, the applicants and Lambeth Council created a binary situation with no room for compromise. They submitted applications inappropriately late, despite knowing the risks this would introduce, as has happened in previous years.
We've been trying to engage with Lambeth and Brockwell Live since last October. Unfortunately, claimants like us can't apply to court until Lambeth makes a key decision, and that is why everything has happened so close to the festival start date. Their repeated use of last-minute tactics has allowed these large-scale events to close off and damage the delicate ecosystem of a heritage park, without proper scrutiny. We have consistently called on the Council to secure full planning permission for all events, supported by robust environmental and community impact assessments, but were ignored on multiple occasions.
Now the High Court has ruled in our favour, we hope Lambeth Council will now choose to act lawfully and fairly, and honour their responsibility to hold the park in trust for the local community. We remain committed to protecting Brockwell Park to ensure that any future events bring genuine benefits to local people. We are not anti-events. On the contrary, we hope Lambeth will engage with us constructively to ensure all events are sustainable and proportionate.
Protect Brockwell Park is only on Brevo, Instagram and Whatsapp. We are not on X/Twitter, and are not associated with any other Brockwell Park organisation / individual that has their own opinions.