00:00Resident Julia Chambers asked the High Court for approval to bring a legal challenge against Lambeth Council over its decision
00:07to use parts of Brockwell Park for several music festivals that are due to start on the 23rd of May.
00:14The council opposed the bid, with Festival Operators Summer Events Limited also taking part. The planning permission granted by the
00:23council allows a temporary change of use for part of the park, covering a period of up to 32 days.
00:30In written submissions, the barrister representing Miss Chambers, Richard Harwood, said the granting of planning permission was unlawful. He said
00:39that in granting permission, the term recreation had been misinterpreted to include an open-air music festival.
00:46Mr Harwood said that provision is concerned with non-sport activities, such as walking, sitting out and open-air games.
00:54He added it did not include a concert, whether the activities of professional musicians or spectators.
01:02But on Wednesday, a High Court judge dismissed the bid, with his view a music festival is a cultural activity.
01:09Sasha White, representing Lambeth Council, told the court the events were clearly a form of outdoor recreation, which readily encompasses
01:18organised cultural and musical events held in a park.
01:22Mr White added that the assessment suggested no unacceptable harm would arise as a result of planning permission.
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