Forum Topic

Gunnersbury Park Licence - GRANTED

http://ealingcommon.yourcllr.com/2017/08/07/gunnersbury-park-licence-granted/

Joanna Dabrowska ● 3011d29 Comments

The Mela, as ever was a fantastic place to be earlier this month and the park now bears little sign that it ever happened. We are lucky to have things like this on our doorstep.

Andy Jones ● 2976d

That's incorrect. The permission clearly stipulates a maximum of 10,000 people for large events.See:https://app.box.com/s/bm26e5im4nltxknzb1o1wmj017rkyrxt

Helena Cavanagh ● 2980d

Up to 50,000 is what the licence allows, as are the 28 days maximum. Smaller events are mentioned, but of course it's the Large and Special events categories that will bring money and money is what they're interested in. They have not produced an events plan so no one knows what is in the pipeline, but it wouldn't make sense (according to their revenue-centred viewpoint)to have antagonized everyone if they didn't have the intention of exploiting the licence to the maximum.

Bela Cunha ● 2990d

I also thought so to

Harold John Ward ● 2990d

Bela, is that an actual programme or a theoretical maximum?I thought the approval was for 10,000 people only?

Helena Cavanagh ● 2990d

My reply seems to have got lost: Andy, it was going to be for public use, not just for the fishing club.Helena: 4 Mela-type events, 4 beer festival-type events, 2 or 3-day music festivals, with up to 50,000 people, with alcohol, up to 10.30 at night. In the western playing fields large events on 8 weekends out of 11 through the spring and summer months (and don't forget setting up and taking down times).

Bela Cunha ● 2993d

Bela, the non-financial cost I was thinking of was that the fishing club would want to restrict the access of the general public to the lake in return for any maintenance work they do.

Andy Jones ● 2995d

What form are you expecting this 'relentless commercial exploitation' to take? As far as I can tell what is proposed is maybe one or two more festival-like events similar to the Mela and weddings to be held at the Large Mansion plus charges for boating on the lake. With the opening up of the pitch and putt area there is at this stage less 'commercial exploitation' not more.

Helena Cavanagh ● 2997d

I'd rather they'd left the park in its previous scruffy state and not spent all these millions on it if it means relentless commercial exploitation.

Susan Kelly ● 2999d

It was going to be for public use. I know it sounds quaint somebody actually wanting to do something free, for the benefit of the community, in our society of unfettered greed where nothing is deemed to have any value unless it makes a profit.I don't know what non-financial costs you're worried about, but is it better to condemn it to remain as the mess it is now?

Bela Cunha ● 3000d

I'd love to see something done with the lake at the south end of the park but not if it involved giving exclusive rights to a fishing club. There may not be a financial cost in doing this but there would be other non-financial ones.

Andy Jones ● 3001d

that's about right and they did not won't the fishing lake to much upkeep they said  and the same with the boating lake just let it go into decay they could have found the money but they just did not won't to because it did not suit them

Harold John Ward ● 3001d

Several years ago an Isleworth fishing club offered to clear the Potomac lake surrounds and get it ready for fishing again - at no cost to the Councils. I put the suggestion to the Councils and, like other suggestions made by residents, it got filed away in some drawer and nothing happened.

Bela Cunha ● 3001d

I can't really say but the park seems to be taking good shape with the money provided so far. The point about event revenue which is worth repeating is that if grant funding is dependent on it then the value of every pound earned by the facilities at the park needs to be multiplied to give the true amount that will be gained.

Helena Cavanagh ● 3002d

I just wonder were all the money is going to go from the money they are going to get from the events that are going to be put on I hope it is going to be spend on the park and not just waste it only silly things

Harold John Ward ● 3003d

The Round Pond was full of water last time I was there so presumably the relining has been done. The cafe also looks to be making good progress. As for the Potomac Lake little seems to be being done there which I would guess is because the current budget doesn't stretch to doing the work. If revenue generation from the new facilities is sufficient that may provide the money to do the work at the lake. It has the potential to become the real highlight of the park.

Helena Cavanagh ● 3003d

Harold, the Round Pond is being relined. It will be refilled and they will bring back boating.  A new cafe is also being built probably to be finished next year.I don't see any mention of re-instating the fish pond though. It does look a bit sad these days. (Apparently it was let to a fishing group and the lease ran out some years ago.)

Terry Freestone ● 3004d

so why have they got ride of the boating lake and the cafe and the fishing these are for the good of the people the place has been left to it's own and don't you think that with all the event's going on it will make the park even less of a place that people want to spend some quite time in the green spaces

Harold John Ward ● 3004d

It makes a lot of sense to insist that venues generate some of their own revenue. It means that professional management needs to be in place. The danger of course that some times sight is lost of the original purpose of a venue as it becomes too commercialised.I'm still inclined to believe that what is going on her is for the good of Gunnersbury Park and local users but the management seem not to be very good at explaining what they are doing. This in turn has given rise to some outlandish conspiracy theories about their motives.

Helena Cavanagh ● 3004d

The apparent silence of the Friends is interesting. I don't really know the specifics of what is going on in Gunnersbury Park but what I do know is that funding for public open spaces is increasingly tied to parks making a commitment to generate a certain amount of revenue themselves. This often means that they can leverage internally generated revenue with grants secured from bodies like English Heritage. This may of course mean that on occasions parts of the park will be unavailable to the general public. This seems like a strategy to protect the park rather than one which seeks to secretly prepare the way for bits of it to be built on.

Andy Jones ● 3006d

Do the Friends of Gunnersbury Park have a view on this? There doesn't seem to be anything about it on their web site.

Helena Cavanagh ● 3007d

time for a clear out I think

Harold John Ward ● 3008d

The hearing was a complete sham, an abuse of power, total absence of democracy. The atmosphere was very intimidating and antagonistic and it is extremely galling that we the council tax payers paid for the solicitor Hounslow employed to put their case. He smugly read out umpteen pages of small print, supposed to provide residents with lots of safeguards. In practice, as we know from bitter experience, that's all pie in the sky. Same as the sham consultations, same as saying the police aren't worried when the police themselves are saying they haven't got the resources to attend these endless proposed events. It all fits in with the CIC, Community Interest Company, now running the Park, which has no community representation whatsoever. Roll on Council elections - let's have a clear out of all those who have betrayed the residents they're supposed to represent.

Bela Cunha ● 3008d

That does seem very odd. Would it be right to assume the licence application process would cost over £500 a time? That would make the venue much less competitive. If the aim is to increase revenue this seems perverse.

Andy Jones ● 3008d

http://ealingcommon.yourcllr.com/2017/07/25/gunnersbury-park-events-licence-what-do-you-think/Licence application - https://democraticservices.hounslow.gov.uk/documents/s134798/Gunnersbury%20Park%20-%20Report.pdfNo maximum number of attendees. And they added a condition of a blanket alcohol licence for medium, large and special (XL) events yet small events like weddings, corporate events, etc need to apply for a licence. IMHO they conditioned the licence back to front.

Joanna Dabrowska ● 3011d

Wasn't the original application for 50,000 attendees and the licence is for just 10,000? Small victory?

Andy Jones ● 3011d

The Council rode roughshod over all objections from local residents and obviously intended to do so from the first.

Susan Kelly ● 3011d

That was one of the anomalies and contradictory (and mutually exclusive) conditions I raised which do not make sense.

Joanna Dabrowska ● 3011d

What I do not understand is that if:Hours premises are open to the publicMonday to Sunday08:00 to duskWhy is a licence for music and alcohol needed and has been granted until 23:00?I like the quote toward the end of the grant:"The Licensing Panel carefully considered all the relevant information including:•written and oral representations by all the parties.Really?

Paul Gibbs ● 3011d