Lambeth: Getting Brockwell Park ready for the summer

The events area at Brockwell Park, hosted the free community event, Lambeth Country Show on June 8 and 9, welcoming over 120,000 people, as well as six ticketed events in late May and early June. Heavy rain during one event affected some grass sections.

Those areas are now repaired and the rest of the event area is reopened to the public. The works are being paid for by Brockwell Live, which hosted the events and ran the Lambeth Country Show in partnership with the council.

Running the Lambeth Country Show in partnership has saved the council £700,000 and helped keep it a free community event. A further £200,000 from the partnership is being invested in Brockwell Park for works to restore a Victorian clock tower, restore timber shelters and other landscaping projects. These are some of the direct and indirect financial benefits that the festival season brings to the park.

The time frame for the grass to grow back depends on the weather, but some initial repairs are expected to take two weeks, while more intensive replanting work should be completed by the summer school holidays.

A spokesman for Lambeth Council said: “The rain at the end of May had an impact on parts of the event venue but our event partner worked hard to prevent further damage and we have been assessing the site since then so so that any necessary repair work could begin. once the Lambeth Country show was over.

“The vast majority of the park is now fully reopened, while some sections have been fenced off so we can prepare the land for reseeding and allow grass to regrow. Events at Brockwell Park have been moved earlier in the year to avoid being held during the summer school holidays when it is busiest. Unfortunately, the very wet spring we just had has affected the soil.

“But we are confident that the ongoing works will minimize the impact on the park, restore affected areas and ensure that Brockwell can be enjoyed by residents throughout the summer and beyond. We will share regular updates with the community as this work progresses.”

Brockwell Live is to hold a rescheduled Brockwell Bounce children’s festival during the summer school holidays at a date to be confirmed.

Lambeth Council invests £500,000 a year in the upkeep of Brockwell Park, which has won numerous awards, including a Keep Britain Tidy Green Flag in line with the international standard for high quality parks and green spaces, as well as several London Awards in Bloom.