Wubi News

Campaigner wins legal fight over park festivals

2025-05-17 16:00:09

A campaigner has won a High Court challenge over the use of a south London park for music festivals this summer.

Lambeth Council has permitted Brockwell Park, near Herne Hill, to host a series of events, such as the Mighty Hoopla, which are expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people.

Local resident Rebekah Shaman took legal action, arguing that council did not have the correct planning permission - with a judge ruling in her favour.

A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: "We are currently assessing the impact of this judgment and determining next steps."

Rebekah Shaman (front centre, wearing red trousers) brought legal action against Lambeth Council over the use of Brockwell Park for events

Richard Harwood KC, for Ms Shaman, had argued that Brockwell Park had "increasingly" been used for large commercial events in recent years, with "substantial" parts of the park being fenced off from the public during the events with damage caused to the ground.

"Due to inclement weather over the weekend of one of the commercial events, the park effectively became a mudbath," Mr Harwood added, referring to one event last year.

Matthew Reed KC, for Lambeth Council, said the "majority" of the park remained unfenced and available for the public to use during the events.

He also said that the council was able to lawfully decide how often the park was used for festivals and would grant special permission if needed.

However, Mr Justice Mould found in his ruling that Lambeth Council's planning officer had "erred in taking into account the mere prospect of planning permission being granted".

The Protect Brockwell Park group has previously said it is "not anti-festival" and supports "well-run, inclusive events".

The group said in a statement: "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."

Additional reporting by Frankie McCamley and Barry Caffrey