‘Desperate’ UK councils hiring out more parks to festivals, warns expert

theguardian.com:

Cash-strapped councils are increasingly hiring out their green spaces to festivals, an expert has warned, blocking them off from residents for weeks at a time, damaging grass and causing congestion.

Councils were “more desperate than ever” to attract commercial income to supplement their reduced budgets after a pandemic hiatus, risking making public parks “more exclusive and more elitist” in the process.

Community groups have raised concerns about lack of access for local people during the recent unprecedented heatwave and the school holidays.

Andrew Smith, professor of urban experiences at the University of Westminster, said there now seemed to be more festivals in some parts of the country than before the pandemic.

A big factor driving this, he said, was that festival organisers were trying to make up for the financial shortfalls of 2020 and 2021, while local authorities needed to generate commercial income amid tightening budgets.

“Festivals are back and back in earnest, and some of the issues associated with them are back as well,” he said. “Lots of people complaining, lots of people worried about restricted access to their parks over the summer months.”

According to a Local Government Association (LGA) report, parks suffered a “devastating loss of income” due to the pandemic, with some forecast to lose as much as £8.8m in 2020/21.

On Tuesday, the Guardian reported that local authorities in England were spending nearly £330m less a year in real terms on parks and open spaces than they were a decade ago, with the most deprived areas experiencing the deepest cuts.

While the picture varies nationally, the issue is especially prevalent in London, said Smith. Other affected cities include Newcastle, Bristol and Nottingham.

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