Music festival noise levels anger local residents

Brockwell Park hosted six days of festivals across the past two-weeks

A group of residents living close to a south London park have expressed their annoyance at "nightmare" noise levels from recent music festivals.

Brockwell Park in Lambeth has hosted thousands of revellers during six days of festivals across the past two weeks.

Some locals say they are also annoyed at illegal parking, damage to the park's turf and weeks of having fencing segregating areas of the park.

Organiser Brockwell Live said the sound levels had been agreed with Lambeth Council and were "built into our licence".

Lambeth Council apologised to residents but added the noise conditions for this year had been exactly the same as last year, and noise generated was "fully compliant" with "license conditions".

'Horrendously bad'

Brockwell Park in Lambeth has hosted a number of festivals across the past two weeks, including Wide Awake and Mighty Hoopla.

Mark Baynes, of Herne Hill, says life has been like "living at a festival for the last 10 days."

The 43-year old is also irritated at "not being able to access the park".

"The kids wanted to play on the grass," he said.

Meanwhile, a resident of Tulse Hill told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "It was horrendously bad... it’s relentless until it closes at night. It’s a nightmare.”

Donna Harris, leader of the Lib Dem opposition at Labour-led Lambeth Council, said she had received noise complaints from residents living more than two miles (3.2km) away.

But one resident noted that hearing popstar Kelly Rowland from her house had been "brilliant".

Kelly Rowland, pictured at this year's Mighty Hoopla festival, was among the artists who performed at the park in recent weeks

The organiser, Summer Events Limited, has run festivals at Brockwell Park since 2018 under the name Brockwell Live.

A Brockwell Live spokesperson said it and Lambeth Council had used their own "independent noise consultants" that "actively monitor noise levels".

The spokesperson said levels had adhered to permissible limits and were "agreed with the local authority".

The council highlighted the impact the festivals had on local businesses and raising funds for the park.

It said they had added "to Lambeth’s exciting music scene" and contributed to the borough's "inclusive and diverse calendar of cultural activities".