Forum Topic

Ten more years of Gunnersbury Park Events

FYI. This just got picked up by a colleague.This is for 10 years of events but so far details are sketchy as we could not access the detail online. So fyi for those who may be affectedDate: 27/11/2025                                                        Ref: P/2025/3274Dear Owner/OccupierTOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990PLANNING (LISTED BUILDING AND CONSERVATION AREAS) ACT 1990Site: Gunnersbury Park, Popes Lane, Ealing, W3 8LQProposal: Temporary change of use of areas of Gunnersbury Park for the staging of temporary eventsbetween May 2026 and May 2036. Up to 28 live event days per calendar year, exclusive of 90 days of set-up, inactive and removal days. Including the erection of associated temporary structures, fencing, ancillaryconcessions and facilities.There has been an application for planning permission to carry out the development described above. We invite you tocomment on the proposal before we make a decision. If you wish to comment:You can go to     https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/planning-building.   for details of the application and to follow its progress. You then enter the reference number  P/2025/3274 To give your views please do so in writing within 21 days of the date of this letter using the ‘comment’ option onthe summary page for the application. If the consultation period includes a bank holiday, the bank holiday days willbe added to the 21 days. If we receive comments after this date we will still take them into account if we have not madea decision. We will not consider objections made on previous applications.If you would like more information about the application, you can find the case officer’s details on the summaryIf you want to comment, please consider the following advice on what are relevant PLANNING considerations that theCouncil can take into account in deciding whether to grant or refuse planning permission:1. A planning application must be evaluated against Council planning policies, set out in the Local Plan (see.       https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/planning-building     2. The Council also has other adopted guidelines against which planning applications might be judged, such asguidelines on House Extensions. You can find these at: https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/planning-building

Raymond Havelock ● 34d14 Comments

'Some minor anti-social behaviour' by a'few young adults' - it would almost be laughable if it wasn't such serious distortion of the actual facts. Unless, of course, for you the following are nothing but 'minor anti-social behaviour':urinating and defecating in residents' front gardens, even falling asleep there, dropping used syringes and empty canisters of laughing gas in the park, throwing litter everywhere, open drug-dealing, vomiting in the street, shouting and singing in the streets after the events.I lived there. I know the real truth of what residents have to endure.

Maria Isabel Cunha ● 18d

" I WALK, its [,,,] 16 Mins to Gunnersbury from my house."Having entered by I presume the Lionel Rd entrance, might I suggest you turn right and walk around the periphery of the park in what would be an anti-clockwise direction ?And possibly Cllr Lambert might like to accompany you so as to be able to take some photo's of the pathssnip" NIMBYS tend to pick on a small issue and then amplify."Possibly you regard wasting million of pounds of tax payers money on "state of the art" football pitches which are totally unused even when they're not waterlogged as a "small issue" Other people may choose to diagreet. While yourself and Cllr Lambert are navigating the "paths" on the south perimeter of the park, perhaps you may care to ponder how those wasted millions - scraping off the top-soil - compacting the sub-soil with heavy machinery with never a thought to installing any land drains - could have been better spent laying spme decent paths?As to NIMBYS. Using parks is a choice. But as a general amenity parks should be funded out of general taxation.Taxes you presumably would prefer not to pay.And so because you enjoy using Gunnersbury Park, but don't like paying for it out of your taxes, you are demanding that people who never use Gunnersbury Park but live in the vicinity should have to put up with noise nuisance every year and have yobs urinating in their front gardens.And all because you deserve itmichael adams       

Michael Adams ● 25d

Mr AdamsI WALK, its 2 mins to Boston and 16 Mins to Gunnersbury from my house.Me and my wife use the Gym usually 4 times a week and we walk Boston Manor most evenings together. NO car, or Bus. IM afraid that little volley missed its target altogether.NIMBYS tend to pick on a small issue and then amplify. Its often referred to as "Tail wagging the Dog". So lets unpick your 2nd post for a second. 1 Im a little old now for Football, so im afraid that assumption is wrong. 2 Those fields have been waterlogged for years. I used to live on Clayponds 15+ years ago and would use the park with my young son at the time. The Pitches were just as waterlogged in Winter as they are now3 At least we have cricket pitches now, Weather cannot be controlled by the Park mgmt team & who plays Cricket in Winter?Its very easy to set yourself up as a self appointed critic pointing out the small issues, its a symptom of "NO Change here mind set" and Lazy thinking of NIMBYism. Criticise the efforts of others and shoot at the supporters whilst offering no support or ideas.I for one am prepared to put up with some minor antisocial behaviours of a few young adults for the massive gain these events bring to the community and the parks overall.Do you have any viable alternative ideas to raise the funds to maintain these Parks?I dont know how much history you have with these parks, I genuinely use these parks multiple times per week for years and I say again, look back with an honest non-bias view, take a look at the big picture "dog" and not the small issues "tail" and you will see these parks have improved massively over the last few years and the income gained from the parties is a valuable contribution to the continuous improvementNothing is perfect in this world and its easy to point out the problems whilst forgetting the gains that have been made.

Graham Cooper ● 25d

I use Gunnersbury and Boston Manor almost dailyThat's interesting. How do you manage that ? go in your car or take a bus ?michael adams

Michael Adams ● 25d

"The park has gone from strength to strength over the past few years following the Lottery funding."I can only assume that you're one of the players in the only football match which is occassionally played on a Sunday morning on one of the numerous "state of the art" football pitches which not only required the closure of the entire north west corner of the park for going on two years but also entirely destroyed the drainage, scraping off300 years worth of topsoil and turning it into a swamp.Not to mention the ten or so cricket matches played on the two "state of the art" waterlogged cricket pitches.Strength to strength indeed ! michael adams

Michael Adams ● 25d

No one is denying the improvements to buildings and the museum (their main concern) in Gunnersbury Park, funded by Lottery money. The damage to the grounds caused by the monstrous overcommercialization (huge events non-stop for four months with no respite), involving heavy lorries driving around the park, is also there for all to see.

Maria Isabel Cunha ● 31d

There have been problems with anti social behaviour associated with some events at the parks, particularly this summer in Boston Manor Park, as documented by Guy Lambert in his blog.

Simon Hayes ● 31d

I don't object to events in parks but what I do object to is the type of event and the noise generated.  I live, at a guess, over a mile away from Gunnersbury Park and there are weekends in the summer when there is non-stop boom, boom, boom from heavy bass.There are many types of music but the Gunnersbury events seem to showcase only one type of music which attract a particular demographic.  And therein lies the problem as far as I (and probably many others) are concerned.  Why not inject a bit of variety into the programming and cater for a wider audience?

Alison Robins ● 31d

Well said.If you haven't been to Boston Manor Park or Gunnersbury Park recently, you should take a look.

Guy Lambert ● 31d

People need look back with honesty.I use Gunnersbury and Boston Manor almost daily. Both Parks have improved immeasurably in the last few years because of lottery funding followed by commercial use to drive revenue.I have been living next to Boston Manor for more than 15 years and have seen the improvements happening week on week. This is to applauded and supported, not denigrated with frankly naive student politics. I aint paying more tax because a folk don't understand the bigger picture, take a selfish position rather than a civic one and indulge in childish contrarianism

Graham Cooper ● 31d

It's a Public Park for local citizens of Ealing Acton, Brentford and Chiswick which border it.It is not a profit centre to line the coffers of directors with a CIC hastily created with no safeguards.The key elements of the park remain in decay namely the footpaths in all but the commercialised areas for marketing purposes. All the low cost amenities are gone and the new amenities are expensive and marketed away from the local community.They charge for parking and even issue tickets over Christmas.The unique wildlife and Birdlife known to local people for generations is all but wiped out by the loss of habitat and the pollution of events going back to 2018.Ealing and Hounslow Councils don't give a hoot with Ealing having destroyed a good and safe local park nearby.Boston Manor Park is heading the same way and that's three local parks rendered largely inaccessible to the local populous at their most need time. School Holidays.The population is increasing with over densification with people living in confined blocks with no proper personal open space.Parks have never been needed more.But now they are profit centres or unsafe sewer overflow sites unsafe for not just children but almost everyone.This really needs a proper open discussion and not the misleading railroading that is fast becoming the norm in this district.

Raymond Havelock ● 31d

28 event days plus 90 days of setting up and taking down add up to 118 days, that is 4 months. If the application is approved, in June, July, August and September local residents and neighbouring communities will suffer noise, antisocial behaviour, transport disruption, parking chaos and be banned from large swathes of the park while it is turned into an events venue designed to make millions for the companies milking it for profit.Why is this unprecedented 10-year planning application being rushed through now with such a very short period of 21 days for objections? Cynics might be forgiven for thinking that it is in the hope of minimizing the number of objections because people are busy with preparations for Christmas. And, in a strangely timely coincidence, Hounslow's planning portal is down, making objections impossible for now.How can anyone dictate what is to happen for the next 10 years, not knowing who might be in charge of the park then or what the circumstances might be?And if you are reading this and thinking, 'Thank goodness I don't live near Gunnersbury Park', think again. Whatever park your children play in, where you walk your dog, have picnics in the summer, exercise or simply enjoy the peace and quiet of nature, you too are at risk. If this application were to be waved through it would set a precedent that other councils would be only too eager to follow.

Maria Isabel Cunha ● 31d

Seems very sensible to me, secures 10 years of income allowing the park mgmt team to plan capital investments with confidence. The park has gone from strength to strength over the past few years following the Lottery funding. I hope this keeps the park on the right path for the next decade. partial closure of parts of the park for 90 days is a sensible compromise that for me strikes the right balance of public park vs commercial enterprise to drive income.

Graham Cooper ● 32d

Did you attend the meeting last week hosted by the CIC about events in the park? If an explanation wasn't given about this application it would be surprising. I presume it is just an administrative measure to avoid the cost of repeat applications for the same thing.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 33d