Haringey Council has been accused of using a technicality in order to agree a contract which will rent out Finsbury Park for 5 years without undergoing any scrutiny.
The decision was taken by the Leader of the Council behind closed doors, with no opportunity for residents or local councillors to question it. What’s more, the decision was designated as ‘non-key’ on a technicality, meaning the council’s own scrutiny committee is not allowed to look at the policy and make recommendations.
Despite opposition from local groups such as Friends of Finsbury Park, the council agreed that promoter Festival Republic will be allowed to run Wireless Festival at Finsbury Park for the next five years, and will be entitled to a second weekend of major events at the park each year.
Haringey Liberal Democrats attempted to ‘call in’ the decision for review by the Overview & Scrutiny panel but this was rejected by the council citing a legal ruling from 2016 which meant decisions related to Finsbury Park events could be considered non-key, and therefore not subject to any call in procedures. The Lib Dems gave the following grounds for the call in:
Insufficient public consultation and co-ordination with stakeholders
Environmental impact
Ignoring established law including the 1906 Open Spaces Act
Safety concerns
A smaller financial benefit from a long-term deal
An outdated major events policy
This major decision by the Leader of Haringey comes a matter of weeks after the Labour-run council was forced to U-turn and ban future Tough Mudder events from the park, after the event in April left the area with ‘weeks worth of damage’.
Cllr Luke Cawley-Harrison (Lib Dem, Crouch End), Leader of the Opposition on Haringey Council, said:
“We don’t think that a deal for 5 years should happen. It should continue on an annual basis, and decisions should be made by a trust made up of key representatives, not the council who are just looking out for their own bottom line.
“What’s worse, when we attempted to ‘call in’ the decision last week, requesting it goes back to the council’s scrutiny committee to be reviewed, the council determined the decision was ‘non key’ using a technicality – so the committee isn’t allowed to look at it. And this was a decision originally taken by the leader behind closed doors with no opportunity for councillors or residents to attend, and no public consultation. So much for the “Haringey Deal” which claimed the council was now “doing things together”.”
