300 people turned out for the protest meeting in Broomfield Park (Photo source: Facebook - Shelly Morgan)
A campaign against a planned funfair in Broomfield Park which would have lasted for 24 days has been successful. The responsible Enfield cabinet member has written to neighbouring residents stating that the fair will not be held this year and that the council will be applying tighter conditions on future funfairs and circuses in the park to address the various issues raised by campaigners.
3rd July 2018
Dear Resident
As you will be aware the Council has received a large number of objections relating to the Funfair which was proposed to take place at Broomfield Park from 10th August to 1st September for a total of 23 days.
We have reviewed your comments and appreciate your views in particular relating to the length of the funfair and have agreed that the funfair will not go ahead this year. Given your concerns and noting that a number of events which have been held in the area adjacent to the playground this has led to our final decision.
We recently met with representatives from the ‘4 not 24’ group to discuss specific concerns relating to the funfairs at Broomfield Park. We appreciate that there was a difference in opinion between those that stated that they did not want funfairs at Broomfield Park and those that could support one funfair a year:
Having taken your views into account in future we will propose the following recommendations for Funfairs at Broomfield Park:
The conditions requested are as follows:
- Maximum of 4 days.
- The fair to be specifically family orientated rides/children rides
- The fair finishes by 7pm
- Less pollution and noise from fair/generators/ rubbish
- Location to be rotated around the park
- Extra security
- Less plastic waste ie paper straws etc
- Healthier food and healthy options to be available
We will be meeting with the funfair organiser to discuss the above with him in due course for events in future years.
In relation to the Circus we have listened to your views and will consider relocating the Circus back to the original area in the western area of the park. The decision will be subject to a full consultation with residents and Councillors and we will be in touch in due course.
I hope that this shows that we do take on board your comments as we would across the whole borough and would like to reassure you we have robust systems in place when facilitating events in Parks and Open Spaces. I apologise for any inconvenience the recent events at Broomfield Parks have caused you.
Thank you once again for bringing these matters to my attention.
Yours Sincerely,
Cllr Guney Dogan
Cabinet Member - Environment
The campaign, under the name "4 Not 24", was launched after people living near Broomfield Park discovered that Cogger's had applied to run a fair from 10th August to 1st September, located on the sports field in close proximity to houses in Broomfield Avenue. This news was the final straw for neighbours and other users of Broomfield Park, who were already concerned about changes in the frequency and nature of events in the park in recent times and their impact on the park and its environs. After initial online discussions on Palmers Green Community and Facebook, an open-air meeting in the park was arranged at short notice.
Strength of feeling
The strength of feeling became clear when some 300 people turned up at the meeting on 23rd June. Among them were local MP Bambos Charalambous and councillors representing Palmers Green and Southgate Green wards. Attendees queued up to sign a paper petition using the same title, which reflects the view that a 4-day fair would be acceptable, but a 24-day event would not. This was followed by an online petition, which has so far collected some 850 signatures.
Subsequently, three campaigners - Dan Baer, Penny Austin and Dave Thomas - were invited to a meeting at the Civic Centre, where they held discussions with deputy council leader Daniel Anderson, cabinet member for the environment Guney Dogan and senior council officers.
Confirmation that the meeting had been a success came yesterday in the form of a letter from Cllr Dogan stating that the planned August fair would not go ahead this year. In the case of future fairs, the council will require that
- the duration will be no longer than four days
- the fair will comprise rides oriented specifically at families and children
- the fair will finish by 7pm
- there will be less pollution and noise from the fair and its generators and less rubbish
- the location of the fair will be rotated around the park
- there will be extra security
- there will be less plastic waste, eg by using paper straws
- healthier food will be available.
"I've never met such a committed and passionate bunch"
Dan Baer has expressed his delight not just with the outcome, but also with the way the community threw itself into the campaign:
"Working with my neighbours on this campaign has been an amazing experience. I’ve never met such a committed and passionate bunch, and my family and I feel very lucky to live here in Palmers Green. Hats off too to Enfield Council and all the councillors involved, as well as Bambos Charalambous MP, for engaging with us from the beginning and standing for us at the end.
"Finally, I look forward to taking my daughter to Coggers new improved funfair next summer. I think everyone will get behind it and ensure it’s a great success."
