The ongoing debate about commercial events held in Southwark’s parks always descends into a shouting match about noise disturbance and disruption. If Southwark Council wants to get more people on board with these events, a little more transparency could go a long way.
Last week, the council rowed back on its plans to double the number of events that can be held in Burgess Park from 28 to 56 days. Its decision to halt the plans was a reaction to a local community that gets increasingly angry when large parts of green space are closed off for festivals, carnivals and fairs.
But the unavoidable fact, which the council rightly argues, is that commercial events help to fund free cultural celebrations across the borough. The £95,000 Cultural Celebrations Fund is possible thanks to revenue made from events like the K-Pop Festival held in Southwark Park last year.
Outcry over plans to double events on Burgess Park forces council U-turn
Admittedly, the £95,000 set aside for events is a paltry amount compared to the funding events used to get. Bermondsey Carnival used to get £80,000 alone. But the reality is that the council is cash-strapped, and a huge portion of its budget now has to go on essential services.
So Southwark Council may be justifiably frustrated when people oppose new commercial events while bemoaning the fact their preferred events aren’t getting the funding they used to. Southwark Council needs to get these people on board.
A good way of doing that could be to be more transparent about how much money it makes from these commercial events. While we know that the cultural celebrations fund amounts to £95,000, we don’t how much money Southwark Council gets paid to host commercial events.
Southwark Council says it cannot reveal these figures because they are commercially sensitive, and the News’ Freedom of Information request was refused on the same grounds. But right now, many people believe the council does not squeeze enough revenue from the commercial events that do take place. A bit more transparency about how much these companies are made to pay could help.