Please refuse the application by MAMA Festivals Ltd to hold a music event for 50,000 people on Wanstead Flats in September 2020.
Why is this important?
Wanstead Flats is an area of open rough grassland in the the southern-most part of Epping Forest. It is a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation classified as an area of Metropolitan Importance because it includes one of the largest areas of acid grassland in London and is of exceptional importance for its insects and other invertebrates, including many rare species.
The City of London Corporation has received an application from MAMA Festivals Ltd a subsidiary of Live Nation Entertainment to hold a 3 day commercial music event on Wanstead Flats for 50,000 people per night in September 2020. If approved, an area of Wanstead Flats would be set aside for the event build up and break down over a three-week period.
There is significant concern about the impact events of this kind would have on the wildlife and local community of the Flats. The WREN Wildlife and Conservation Group strongly opposes the plans: “given the fragile state of the ecosystems on Wanstead Flats, especially after the worst grassland fire in London’s history earlier this year, we cannot envisage a scenario in which such a large scale event would have anything other than a severely damaging impact on the local wildlife. For these reasons, the Wren Group strongly opposes the plans to hold events of this kind on Wanstead Flats.”
https://wrengroup.org.uk/wren-wildlife-and-conservation-group-statement-on-proposals-for-major-music-events-on-wanstead-flats/
The Corporation’s Epping Forest and Commons Committee will decide on 8th July 2019 whether to approve the provision of a licence to MAMA Festivals Ltd to use the land. MAMA would then be required to apply for a Premises Licence for the event from the London Borough of Redbridge.