Gunnersbury residents demand a review of Gunnersbury Park’s licence to hold events

LoveBox at Gunnersbury Park

Fed up with the noise, crowds and inconvenience of big events, residents association fights back

Members of the Gunnersbury Park Garden Estate Residents Association have applied to Hounslow Council to review Gunnersbury Park’s licence for holding events.

They are questioning whether the events held at the park breach the conditions of the licence regarding the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm.

For a licence to be reviewed, the grounds must be based on one of those four objectives.

‘This request is necessary’, they say, ‘because the current blanket licence facilitates activities that conflict with all four statutory licensing objectives and has proven incapable of being enforced effectively’.

Gunnersbury Estate applied last year to hold events on 28 days of the year, each year for the next ten years.

Residents of the Gunnersbury Park Garden Estate met at the beginning of December to discuss their response. The Council is holding a consultation about it, and this is their response.

Waterworks festival

Prevention of Public Nuisance

‘Licensed noise levels consistently exceed WHO, DEFRA, and Noise Council Code of Practice 1995 (also known as the Pop Code) thresholds, exposing homes, schools, hospitals, cemeteries, and playgrounds to harmful sound levels.

‘Large-scale events also restrict access to public parkland for more than 98 days in 2025, amounting to a material change of use that undermines residential amenity’.

Protection of Children from Harm

‘Children are exposed to unsafe levels of noise in playgrounds and school grounds, and to loss of safe recreational space during term time. Restricted access to sports facilities and play areas undermines their wellbeing, while antisocial behaviour linked to events creates additional safeguarding risks’.

Prevention of Crime and Disorder

‘Residents have documented drug use, nitrous oxide and other drug sales, public urination, blocked driveways, and other antisocial behaviour. Police presence is concentrated inside the park, with insufficient patrols in the surrounding residential areas most affected’.

Public Safety

‘Large-scale occupation, fencing, heavy infrastructure, and crowding compromise emergency access and resident safety. The ongoing failure to comply with statutory planning controls (exceeding the 28-day limit for temporary use) and restrictive covenant terms further create legal uncertainty over land use and undermine confidence in regulatory oversight’.

Waterworks

Blanket licence ‘cannot be effectively monitored or enforced’

They cite the High Court ruling in Friends of Brockwell Park v Lambeth LBC (2025) and licensing regimes at Finsbury Park, Hyde Park, and Richmond Parks to demonstrate that more restrictive, event-specific licensing is both lawful and workable, saying:

‘The current blanket licence is drafted so broadly that it cannot be effectively monitored or enforced, contrary to the purpose of the Licensing Act 2003’.

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They have put together a case with documentary and photographic evidence, which they say is supported by both case law and statutory law.

‘This review is brought in good faith’, they say. ‘It is not frivolous, vexatious, or repetitious. A formal review is required to align the licence with statutory licensing objectives, planning law, and the Council’s human rights and equality duties.

 Gunnersbury Park Lake on a normal, non-festival day; photograph Cleopatra Campbell

‘We remain committed to ensuring the park is managed responsibly for the benefit of all our communities’, says Gunnersbury Estate CIC

In response to the residents’ submission to the Council, a spokesperson for Gunnersbury Estate CIC told The Chiswick Calendar:

“We are aware that a request has been made for a review of the park’s premises licence and will cooperate fully in the Council’s process.

“Events at Gunnersbury Park are delivered in line with the licence conditions and in close coordination with our partners. We remain committed to ensuring the park is managed responsibly for the benefit of all our communities and continue to listen to and work with local residents”.

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