Were the odds stacked against K-Pop Festival objectors?

 Northwick Park

That was certainly the feeling amongst objectors when they left the Brent Council Licensing Sub-Committee yesterday and perhaps that had to be expected when the Brent Public Safety Officer withdrew their concerns before the meeting.

It is notoriously hard to prove applications fail to meet the criteria specified for objections: preventing crime and disorder, public safety, preventing public nuisance and protecting children from harm. The councillors who objected, local residents and a barrister made a pretty good fist of it but were not helped by aggressive questioning from committee members who seemed to be much easier on the applicants.

Other issues emerged during the meeting including that Brent Council had sought appplications for festival organisers to hire Brent parks and that they has suggested Northwick Park when Fryent Country Park was deemed unsuitable. There was even a hint from the organisers that a contract was already in place.

The consultation with residents was late in the process and took place in the winter festival period. One observer likened finding out about the application to the scene in Douglas Adan's  Hitchhiker's  Guide to the Galaxy when Arthur Dent was complaining that he had not heard about the plans to blow up the earth to make way for an inter-galactic highway:

“But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

The issue of how much Brent Council was going to be paid by the organisers is a close secret. Documents were restricted and press and public removed while this part of the agenda was discussed. Reports suggest a sum somewhere between £100,000 and £200,000. Brent Council would argue that this will be to the benefit of council tax payers.

Conditions were not good for public accountability and transparency with no livestream of the meeting, no microphones used and barely audible mumbling by committee members. I resisted a move to make me stop recording the meeting and delete the recording I had made. In the absence of livestreaming recording was essential in reporting the meeting.

The lack of public representation by Northwick Park Hospital  to the Committe, amidst concern about the impact of the event on hospital patients, staff in the nearby housing, access to the hospital by patients and ambulances puzzled the objectors. They were told that a Working Group with the hospital had been set up by the festival promoters.

When asked about the posibility that festival goers would camp in the park and concern for their wellbeing, the promoters said this was unlikely but they would risk assess with the police if this happened and provide welfare support and water. They were seeking to cover all contingencies.

It was confirmed that festival goers would be expect to walk to the venue from Harrow-on-the-Hill  tube station and residents' familiarity with the area came into play. The promoters had said the expected audience was three-quarters female and aged between 10 and 24. There were concerns about the safety of women and young girls walking in the dark for 2.5km over two busy roads and through a pedestrian tunnel.  

Cllr Daniel Kennelly (Preston ward) reminded the hearing that the Betfred Challenge Cup Final was taking place the same weekend as the Festival. He expected the same 'Gold Standard' for security and welfare for the Festival as provided for Wembley events.

The event including set up and  clearing would take place over 17 days but organisers were going to try and reduce this to 14. There was concern that this would put sports pitches out of use for the period but even worse, that the damage would make them unusable for longer. Residents gave example of events elsewhere in Brent where remediation of damage was poor and took a long time. The promoters said they would pay Brent to hire sub-contractors to do the work.

It should be noted that the licensing application also covers future and longer events in Northwick Park so this aspect will need proper oversight, something residents said was missing elsewhere in the borough.

A barrister represented 3 local residents individually, two of whom lived just 50 yards from the festival stage, and Sudbury Court Residents Association. Addressing the Sub-Commiitte he said:

You are told a professional noise impact assessment is being carried out over the coming weeks (in other words it hasn't happened yet);  a full security and crowd management plan will be developed (in other words it hasn't been developed); we will work extensively with TfL to manage the ingress and egress of people through the stations to the park (in other words they haven't done it yet - it is an unknown quantity.

If you look at the plans you will see there's a gate close to Northwick Park tube station and [another] very close to South Kenton station but the applicant says Northwick Park station will not be used,  'discussions are underway with TfL to identify which station access should be used . It is anticipated that the primary transport hub will be Harrow-on-the-Hill.'

'Anticipated' we are told, 'discussions are underway' we are told.

The position is totally unclear and a recipe for chaos, I would submit.

He reminded the hearing that there would be a combined total of more than 100,000 on the Saturday of the festival in a comparatively small area. 

(Not to mention the roadworks and public transport diversions!)

I have already published the concluding statement of the Sub-Committee but here it is again so it can be read in context:

The Sub-Committee has made its decision irrespective of any political considerations. 

Regarding the view of one resident that the application be declared void, the Sub-Committee do not consider it should be voided. They consider that sufficiuent documentation had been provided and had been made available to all parties and time given for representations to be made.

Therefore the Sub-Committee do not agree that the application should be voided.

The Sub-Committee had regard that they should make a decision that is proportional and justified by the evidence presented to it.

The Sub-Committee listened carefully to the represenations made by the parties at the heaing and have taken full account of every representation.

The Sub-Committee are aware of the fact that this application is Stage 1 of a two stage process. The Brent Safety Advisory Group (BSAG) still has to give the go-ahead taking into account what has happened at this stage. That go-ahead has NOT been given as yet.

Further the final timing and the duration of the event [K-Pop Festival] will be dependent on what that final determination is.

So the role of this consultation is to determine the impact of the event on the licensing objectives and that is the only role that the Sub-Committee plays today.

The Sub-Committee notes that the applicant has met with residents and plan to continue to meet them, especially for a debrief, prior to this year's and future events.

The applicant has confirmed that they will provide a [dedicated]  telephone mumber for residents to use for any concerns they have when the event is taking place.

The Sub-Committee has taken full account of the fact that the applicant has agreed to adhere to all the conditions set by the licensing officers, the [inaudible] consultants and public safety officers - in other words, the responsible authorities.

In the circumstances therefore the Sub-Committee have decided that it is indeed appropriate to grant the licence, in short, subject to the conditions agreed and any additional conditions given by BSAG (Brent Safety Advisory Group).

The Sub-Committee are also of the view that adherence to these conditions, and other undertakings that were given by the applicant, do promote the licensing objectives.

A more detailed decision will be issued shortly and once that decision is with you, you will have 21 days from the date of the decision notice to appeal the decision of the Sub-Committee if you are not in agreement.

That  appeal must of course be made to the Magistrates Court.

This is a shortend version of the decision and a more detailed version will be sent in due course.