Protect Brockwell Park has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £55,000 so that it can challenge Lambeth Council’s decision to allow events to take place at the London park.

The group of local residents and campaigners hopes to challenge the council which has granted a certificate of lawful development. This will allow commercial events to take place in Brockwell Park without requiring planning permission.

Protect Brockwell Park has raised more than £35,000 on its Crowdjustice page so far. It says this will be used as a “fighting fund”. The group has sent the local authority a pre-action letter that it also says is the first step to protecting the site from large-scale and “unsustainable events” during the summer months.

Protect Brockwell Park wishes to stop the “commercialisation, destruction and fencing off of the park without full public consultations, evidence-based impact assessments and proper evaluation of the long-term impact on the park”. It would also like to see a full consultation of the council’s events strategy.

A petition has also been started calling for the end of “unsustainable commercial events” in the park that “rob” the local community of open space for an “unacceptable” length of time, and a transparent assessment of the “damages” caused by events in 2024.

Brockwell Park is home to Lambeth Country Show, Mighty Hoopla (pictured), Cross the Tracks, Wide Awake, City Splash, and Field Day, which is relocating to the park for 2025.

Image: Luke Dyson