Gunnersbury Park residents are challenging approved plans for 19 event days and 115 days of partial park closure every year.
The three Chiswick Gunnersbury ward Conservative councillors will host a public meeting at Chiswick Town Hall this Thursday to discuss residents’ anger and feeling of being ignored.
This comes after Labour controlled Hounslow Council approved a five year programme allowing these event days and days of partial park closure – an increase on the 15 event days held in the park last year.
Gunnersbury Park in west London has been hosting large scale live events for approximately eight years, and Conservative councillor Joanna Biddolph has been campaigning about the impact of them since 2018.
Cllr Biddolph, who called the meeting, said: “This is a chance to give residents who are completely frustrated at the way the decision was made in planning a chance to express those views and to think about what we can do.
“I really want to bring people together to campaign as one.”
Among the residents protesting the change is a retired nurse and resident of the park for more than 30 years, who is directly affected by the events and closures.
He said: “They last all summer.
“All I can feel is ‘boom boom boom’.”
He is not the only neighbour of the park that feels aggrieved by the decision.
Long term resident, Anton Henriksen, said: “There is a constant pounding all day.”
He shares the concern about the impact of Gunnersbury Park’s events on the surrounding community and wildlife.
Neil Boote, a user of the park for over 30 years, said: “When is a park no longer a park?”
He argues residents have concerns about how the park is managed and whether the full costs of policing, traffic management and repairing grounds are reflected in the financial case for events.
The Gunnersbury Community Interest Company (CIC) said the events are needed to generate a third of the funding required to maintain the park and museum, and all CIC revenue goes towards their maintenance and improvement.
It added the revised proposal was reduced from 22 to 19 live event days after listening to residents and councillors, with more than 80% of the park remaining accessible during events and set-up periods.
Hounslow Council approved the programme application on 3 September, but residents and councillors continue to challenge the decision and are set to consider their next steps in the public meeting on Thursday.
Both the Gunnersbury CIC and Hounslow Council press team were contacted for comment.
Featured image courtesy of park adjacent resident via WhatsApp
