This is a response sent to concerned residents who had objected to the K (Korean) Pop application to hold a Festival in Northwick Park in the summer LINK.
Dear
Resident,
Thank
you for taking the time to voice your concerns regarding our application for a
premises licence in Northwick Park. I appreciate that this can feel like a very
daunting prospect for our neighbours and I wanted to write to you to try and
alleviate some of your concerns.
Firstly,
I wanted to introduce the people behind the application.
Magic
Sound are based in Brent and are promoters of touring artists from the Far
East, primarily in the genre of Korean pop music, known colloquially as K-Pop.
Within the UK this genre is very popular with females between the ages of 10
and 24; as a result, our audience is very much a family audience where under
18s are not permitted to attend without parents or legal guardians.
Magic
Sound have engaged The Event Umbrella (TEU), who are experienced event
producers working extensively in public open spaces across London to manage
event delivery, both in the planning phase and onsite through the installation,
live and dismantlement phases.
Further
to this, TEU also works on behalf of other local authorities managing the
application process for the use of public land in respect of event hirers.
These dual roles, as both producers and approvers for events on public land
means that TEU understand how crucial it is to protect residents and mitigate
against impact on the local community.
The
premises licence that is applied for proposes the use of the park for one event
in 2025, for a maximum of 3 consecutive days and for future years for a maximum
of 6 event days, with no more than 3 consecutive days. However, the current
event plans for 2025 are for a two-day event taking place on the Saturday and
Sunday, 7 – 8 June.
A
key aspect of the conditions of the premises licence application is that a
number of documents must be presented for scrutiny by the responsible
authorities including the Metropolitan Police, London Ambulance Service, Brent
Noise Control, London Fire Brigade, Transport for London and others. These
documents include security and crowd management plans, noise management plans,
litter and waste plans, to name but a few. If these documents do not live up to
scrutiny then the event would not be able to proceed.
In
this email I will address the three main causes for concern – noise, security
(including alcohol) and litter – but also speak a little bit about traffic
management.
- Noise. A professional noise impact assessment is being carried out
over the coming weeks that will be used to create a noise management plan
to minimise disruption to residents. This management plan will be in line
with The Noise Council Code of Practice on Environmental Noise Control at
Concerts and will set levels at which music can be played. These levels
will reflect the nature of the space the event is occupying.
- Security / Ingress & Egress / Alcohol. A full security and crowd
management plan will be developed, not just for the internal footprint of
the event, but for the external areas including the local transport links.
SIA stewards will be deployed to fixed positions to monitor and manage
crowd behaviour and response teams will be dedicated to the surrounding
roads, should issues arise. Additionally we will be working extensively
with Transport for London to manage the ingress and egress of people
through the stations to the park. Given the nature of the event proposed
for 2025, it is unlikely that excessive alcohol consumption will be an
issue but that does not mean that the sale of alcohol will not be managed
in accordance with best practice. Korean food, music and culture are the
focus of Magic Sound events, not alcohol. SIA will be located at the bar
and response teams will monitor consumption across the event footprint and
the wider park area.
- Litter. Waste management at the event is again not focused solely on
our footprint, but also across the park, along footpaths and residential
roads. Teams of pickers and cleaners will be deployed across these areas
to ensure that they are maintained and that we leave no trace at the end
of the event.
- Traffic. Another concern that I know our neighbours will have is the
management of traffic inside and outside the park; whilst this isn’t a
licensing objective, I appreciate it remains important. A traffic
management team will be a crucial part of the advance planning process.
They will be looking at how they protect residential parking, manage event
related traffic whilst minimising disruption to existing park users and
ensuring that taxi drop offs are carried out at a designated point with
the least impact on houses.
Each of these four keys
areas of concerns will have dedicated response teams when the event is live.
Residents in the surrounding area will be issued with a dedicated contact
number where they can report concerns or issues as they are happening. We will
then deploy the relevant response team to take the appropriate action.
I would like to finish by
saying that whilst we know that events have not previously taken place in
Northwick Park and therefore it is unlikely that one can take place without any
change to park users’ daily experience of the park, we are committed to
listening to our residents and working with them to reduce the impact insofar
as is possible. I know the use of spaces in this way is controversial, but they
do absolutely benefit the local authority financially and for those residents
who have an interest in attending them, they offer an experience and chance to
make memories with their families close to home.
We will be offering
residents the chance to attend consultation sessions and we have a direct email
mik@magic-sound.co.uk where you can contact us
to ask any questions. Further to that there will be chance for free and
discounted tickets, as well as opportunities for people to get involved with
the event.
Yours sincerely, Victoria
Hazell Show Producer
EDITOR'S NOTE: Although the above says that it will be a 2 day event the licence application states:
The intention is for MIK to
take place over a weekend (2 days). Whilst dates are pending at the time of writing,
the speculative dates will be the 7 – 8 June 2025, with approximately 10 days
prior for construction and 5 days following for derig,
