Residents complain show makes park 'inaccessible'

Set up for the third edition of Northern Lights is under way

A community group has complained the return of a Christmas light show makes a city centre park "inaccessible".

Northern Lights, in Leazes Park, Newcastle, draws thousands of visitors and is about to enter its third year, but blocks off a large part the park from 15:00 GMT each day from the end of November until the New Year.

Marion Williams, chair of Friends of Leazes Park, said the group was frustrated the public space was closed for so long.

Event director Paul Robson of From the Fields said Northern Lights was "committed to listening carefully to feedback" and the aim was for the event "to sit comfortably alongside the everyday life of the park".

Newcastle City Council, which runs the park, said income received from From the Fields went into park services and such events helped ease the financial "burden".

Leazes Park often hosts events such as music festivals, but Ms Williams said the length of Northern Lights was a problem for the local community.

Newcastle City Council said the money they received from the event was put back into the city's parks

"All events in the park shut down a large amount of public space and make a really popular park which hundreds of people use or travel through every day inaccessible," Ms Williams said.

"In the case of Northern Lights particularly, we endure their presence for so long," she added.

The set up for this year's event began on Thursday and Ms Williams said when the trail eventually opens on 27 November, only the area around courts at the front of the park would be accessible to the public from the afternoon.

Ms Williams also said the "damage to the environment was huge" and impacted the wildlife in the park.

A spokesperson for the city council said any organiser of a large event had to carry out an ecology assessment before the contract was approved.

Ms Williams, who lives next to the park, also said it was "torture" to hear the music from the trail in the evening.

Mr Robson said since launching in 2023, the event had had more than 200,000 visitors.

He said: "We're committed to listening carefully to feedback and our aim has always been for Northern Lights to sit comfortably alongside the every day life of the park, ensuring residents can enjoy both a protected green space and winter event that brings communities together."

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