The walk from Harrow-on-the-Hill to the festival site
Dear Editor,
We residents would wager the organisers of the Made in Korea (K-Pop) event are angry with Brent Council and may now be getting cold feet as more and more issues come to light and the risk of cancellation due to bad weather, specifically rain, is becoming clearer. Why do we have this opinion?
They didn't know (the council didn’t tell them) about the people living within feet of the concert compound until they were told two days before the consultation ended. It is believed that a parks representative has recently spoken to the bungalow residents and told them they will have to live with it! They attended the Licensing Hearing but were so upset by the proceeding that they walked out in fury over the poor questioning by the committee members from the south of the Borough, one councillor said she knew the park well having played rounders there – and how long ago was that then, perhaps 1990’s?
They didn't know that the ‘great’ Public Transport Hubs they had been told about by the council were totally unsuitable for such large numbers. They will now have to use Harrow on the Hill as the principal transportation hub, which just happens to be some 2.5 kilometres away, that’s about a 30-minute walk without hold ups, holdups such as crossing two major roads! Even utilising this station, the 15-20,000 attendees will have to crocodile through the 3mtr wide under pass to cross the A404 Watford Road, which carries circa 35,000 vehicles a day. The organisers said they are having to revisit the event timings to take account of the time it will take to get 15,000 people to Harrow in time to cover onward travel connections. Even Saturday is not particularly well serviced after 11pm.
The committee unbelievably hadn’t been informed by the council, and the ward councillor didn’t know (if his objection at the Licensing Committee was to be believed); that the playing fields have been waterlogged during periods of high precipitation, going back decades. At its worst, the edge of the Capital Ring Footpath is under at least six inches of water with no way round even using the playing fields as they are also flooded. The ward councillor inexplicably said that the footpath only started flooding a year ago, and was reported, well this is Brent isn’t it. Residents tell us that they have complained to the councillor and the council since 2022 with no action so far being taken. Users of the path can all tell you that the watercourse along the path should be draining the fields, however, due to neglect the watercourse no longer serves its essential purpose. It also should be noted that some of the recent planning consents at the hospital and the new 700 flats will all be utilising the watercourse for their drainage, which will only make matters worse unless essential improvements are made to the watercourse. But don’t worry, Brent is investigating apparently.
The organisers have been led to believe that no sporting users would be disrupted by the concert; they've now found out that Gaelic Football and one Cricket Ground will be inaccessible for three weeks from mid-May due to the positioning of the concert area. Also, during the events, all the fields will be out of use due to the setting up of entry and exit paths. Of course, there will then be many weeks after the concert area has gone, while ground renovation takes place and recovers; this recovery period will no doubt end Gaelic Football on Northwick Park Playing Fields, a clear discrimination of our fellow residents who play Gaelic Football for Parnells but have not been acknowledged by the Council. The council didn’t even think to inform the playing field users.
We could hazard a bet that the organisers are furious with Brent Council at all levels for not informing, nay, not knowing about these issues.
Apparently, the council told the organisers to use Northwick Park and not Fryent Park as Northwick is flat and had good public transport links (what a joke that is now) and has unrestricted parking in the area; this was probably well over a year ago. Oh, how Brent Council and its councillors disrespect the residents of their borough. Regarding parking, the organisers suggested at the Licensing Committee that there should be Residents Parking in the area for the events so that they can have access and get blue lights and coaches in and out!
It appears that the local councillor knew of these events long before eventually informing a small number of residents about the Licensing Application via a Whatsapp link, and we are informed that the councillor refused to share the response to the application. The Preston Councillors were not informed according to rumours and found out through their residents’ association or the Nextdoor App.
Neither Northwick Park Hospital, nor Sovereign Network Group (the housing supplier) have been advised about the events by the Council, they were not required to be notified under Licensing Law, so that’s OK, isn’t it?
The organisers said there was now a liaison group including the hospital, however, that has not begun yet and was suggested by either the London Fire Brigade or London Ambulance Service, which is more likely.
The University of Westminster have obviously been in communication with the organisers as they were to have the second weekend for their ‘local social events’, however, the organisers have now abandoned the second event weekend. Will the university now be such a strong supporter, and do they really want 15-20,000 people trapesing through there site on their way to Harrow on the Hill station just at pub throw out time at a weekend?
The Football Foundation have funded Brent’s football pitches by over £2m since 2000. Their 2024 Plan for Brent recommends that their future football development priorities for Brent include Improving grass pitches. It goes on to say that there are seven grass football pitches in Northwick Park, and it is one of their priority areas for improvement. This includes the refurbishment of the pavilion changing rooms which are currently closed due to a water borne virus. The football pitches are listed as needing refurbishment due to the lack of maintenance by the Council. This was acknowledged in a Brent report dating back to 2016, only three years after a drainage scheme was put in place funded by the Lottery, FA, and the Football Foundation.
What a very sad borough Brent has become.
A Northwick Park resident
That's exactly how I and my neighbours see Brent Council. Totally out of their depth and disrespecting resident tax payers.
ReplyDeleteYou will have the chance to vote out the councillors who don't respect or represent the residents they are meant to serve in May 2026.
DeleteTheir Leader is the one who recruited the senior council staff who run Brent on his behalf, not ours.
So who at Brent Council told the Organisers of the Festival that Northwick Park was a suitable site and would not impact on any other users? Was it Labour Politicians or Council Officers? Who exactly is running Brent Council and do they know what they are doing?
ReplyDeleteClearly they do not.
DeleteIf you want to know that information, I would suggest a Freedom of Information Act request to Brent Council.
DeleteI would suggest that this request should ask for:
1.the date when the Council and the organisers of the K-Pop festival proposed for Northwick Park in 2025 were first in contact about a possible festival in the London Borough of Brent; and,
2. for copies of all communications between Brent Council Officers and Brent Council Members on one side, and the proposed festival's organisers and their representatives on the other side, between that date and 4 February 2025.
Requests can be made by email to:
Foi@brent.gov.uk
And you should get a response within 20 working days. Good luck!
If they eventually grant permission, lets all hope it rains heavily and becomes a mud bath, like Glastonbury has on many occasions, as it's not a festival where you can camp, no one in their right mind is going to spend 8 hours in the rain watching a few K-Pop bands or using public transport and hiking 2.5 km to the venue.
ReplyDeleteWhy wasn't the meeting streamed or recorded? Why did they try to stop people recording the meeting as was their legal right? What were/are they trying to hide?
ReplyDeleteJust curious, how are they going to stop people from using Northwick Park and South Kenton Tube Stations? Anyone attending this event by using Public Transport who has a brain cell is surely not taking their advice and walking from Harrow on the Hill when they see the alternatives are much closer.
ReplyDeleteThe £450,000 grant to the K Pop Concert by the Arts Council was in the Public Domain by November 2022, as announced by Cllr Donny Jackson in her press release about the £5 million Arts Council Funding in Brent (mainly to the Tricycle Theatre. She is quoted as saying "six incredible cultural organisations that are based in Brent have been awarded this enormous slice of funding" Magic Sounds then seem to have moved into an industrial unit in the Park Royal area of Brent.
ReplyDeleteThere a big difference between a Brent Theatre and a Events Organising Company (and equipment provider, via IPEX Productions LTD) with an office in Brent? Interestingly, the business address in Brent was being offered for rent in 2019 at £97,570 pa. Nice if you can get it. Oh yes, Miracle Coffee Limited also operate from the same address with a shared director. Just interesting isn't it?
I was at the Licensing Committee meeting, and was appalled at its tone. Objectors were treated with little respect or understanding, and some of the questioning by councillors was hostile. So many legitimate questions are left ignored and unanswered. I have no political axe to grind, but this was unacceptable. It was pretty clear that the decision had already been made.
ReplyDeleteI have already warned them, if they go ahead with this, there will be consequences. Please attend the SNT meeting today at 7pm at Ashley garden, preston community library
ReplyDeleteIt is really odd; the obviously very professional event organisers still seem to be intent on progressing toward holding the event. Perhaps they don’t want to lose the Magic Sounds Arts Council grant of £450,000?
ReplyDeleteThe event is already in a mess over ingress and egress because the local stations are unable to cope with the numbers, crowd control issues, end times with regards onward journey connections, local parking issues, blue light access, the weather with a 30% chance of rain during the eighteen-day event period, backlash from sports users losing their playing fields, residents living only yards away, and much more.
Meanwhile there are so many unknown actions accumulating against the event happening, many of which they must be aware of. If they thought that the walkovers of the compliant Licensing Committee and Safety Advisory Group were the only hoops they needed to get through, they are sadly mistaken.
Brent Council, particularly the parks department have got themselves into this complete mess because they didn’t understand the local area at all before offering it. They didn’t know about the residents in the park bungalows, they didn’t know the Gaelic Football pitch, the floodlit training area, the cricket ground that are all under the event area. They don’t know about the rough sleepers in the copse at the side of the event area and in the narrow underpass needed for the long march to Harrow on the Hill station. One wonders if they are aware that the ground inside the event area will not be protected and therefore the grass will be destroyed for the rest of the summer due to some 30,000 pairs of feet trampling the area for around 20 hours in total.
Parks department’s major failing is that they didn’t know that playing fields are susceptible to major waterlogging or why. The ground has always been a problem as it is Middlesex clay, and holds water at the drop of a hat, and is the lowest lying ground in the area. A section of the fields was designated to be a grave yard when it was transferred to the council’s ownership in 1946, however, this use never progressed as the trial holes filled with water as they were being dug.
One could suppose that the Parks Department have been misled by the local councillor who thinks the problem started a year ago when the new ground heat source pipework was installed and started reporting the flooding for angry residents, while being totally unaware that the fields and path have flooded for years. Meanwhile the councillor is completely oblivious of the condition of the local drainage watercourses that are sadly in need of major maintenance which would no doubt substantially alleviate the flooding problem, it is this that should have been reported to the council. It should not be ignored that the hospital’s recent extensions are utilising the watercourses for their surface water drainage systems.
What a mess they’ve got us into.
Anon 18:07 Presumably the new flats will also use the unmaintained water courses for their drainage?
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the objectors, Northwick Park is not suitable for a Festival, having said this looking at the timescale for confirmation it leaves the Promoter little time approx 3 months to Promote, the event, book/hire all the infastructure needed, stalls, and KPOP acts, and most importantly advertise and SELL TICKETS! I will be very surprised if this will go ahead this year.
ReplyDeleteToo true Jaine, also the Licence isn't yet set, and could easily be appealed right up to early March.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget there is a major event at Wembley Stadium on the Saturday of the propsed three day K Pop event - three rugby matches in one day - so you'll have rugby fans travelling via the Met Line from Central London but also from outer stations such as Pinner where it is easier for them to park.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about the Rugby matches, the organisers solicitors said it doesn't clash, as the last one only runs for 0 seconds, one then 60,000 + just disappear. London Borough of B~ent obviously agree. Can any one tell me what year Cllr Long played rounders on the playing fields, especially as that made her an expert on the playing fields?
ReplyDeleteSaturday 7th June major event day at Wembley Stadium ...
ReplyDeleteWomen’s Betfred Challenge Cup Final at 11.45am - match lasts 2 hours.
Men's Final at 3pm - match lasts 2 hours.
The AB Sundecks 1895 final at 5.45pm - match lasts 2 hours.
N.B. kick-off times may be subject to change.
So the event organisers did not attend an onsite meeting with the Brent Council Licencing team, Brent Council parks department, Brent Police and Brent local councillors before the licence application was put forward??? How can you even think about holding an event like this without fully understanding the location and issues???
ReplyDeleteBrent Council and The Football Association and the Police knew everything about Wembley Stadium, the transport links and the surrounding area before the Euro Final but look what a high profile fiasco that turned out to be with people injured anf put in danger because of incredibly poor forward planning and then action on the day by them all!!!
If Brent Council can't handle the planning for this one event properly how do we know that they are managing other much major issues properly such as health and safety issues on huge tower block developments or negotiations on major contracts such as refuse collections or adult social care???
ReplyDeleteAs for Brent Council handling planning, they are a total joke
ReplyDeleteCllr Long played rounders at Northwick Park approximately 1996
ReplyDeleteSo Cllr Long knows the playing fields at Northwick Park really well, and should be considered an expert with her 29 year old experience?
ReplyDeleteThe London Borough of B~ent
ReplyDeleteWhy did Brent misrepresent Northwick Park playing fields and the Public Transport to the promoters. Perhaps the promoters should sue Brent Council? The Council's defence would probably be that "they haven't got a clue".
ReplyDelete