Hackney MP Dame Meg Hillier has joined two neighbouring Labour MPs in accusing Tower Hamlets Council of ignoring residents’ objections to a festival organiser’s bid to take over nearly a third of Victoria Park for up to 75 days a year.
Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, issued a joint statement with Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney, and Uma Kumaran, MP for Stratford and Bow, after meeting residents on Friday 23 October.
The three said they would write to both the applicant, AEG Presents, and the council to ask for a meeting at which they could raise locals’ concerns.
AEG, the entertainment giant behind All Points East, has applied for permission to use the park for up to 75 days a year for six years.
Those days would include eight ticketed commercial days for up to 50,000 people, four for up to 40,000 and eight free community days for up to 20,000, with the remainder taken up by setting up and taking down.
‘Legitimate concerns’
The MPs’ statement read: “As your local Labour MPs, we are proud of East London’s vibrant cultural scene [...] When residents raise legitimate concerns about the use of the park for commercial purposes, this does not mean they should be ignored.
“But that is exactly what Tower Hamlets Council – who have responsibility over local planning decisions – have been doing.
“We understand your frustration at not getting a fair hearing – and we will continue to fight your corner until you do.”
Tower Hamlets has been run by Aspire mayor Lutfur Rahman since 2022. The party has held a majority on the council since then and increased it at May’s local elections.
Council figures from late July, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that the application had attracted 1,554 objections, including those sent by email, and just 12 responses in support.
The application is backed by letters of support from Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police and the park’s management team.
According to resident Mary Pimm, the MPs also agreed at the meeting to seek an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on the proposals and on the use of parks for festivals more widely.
In a social media video, Kumaran said the MPs would escalate the matter to the Mayor of London’s office. Under planning rules, however, only Tower Hamlets Council can refer the application to the Greater London Authority.
‘Just too much’
Pimm, 76, who attended the meeting, said: “I am hopeful that the concerted efforts of everybody will be enough to bring Tower Hamlets to its senses.”
She said residents had raised the impact on the park’s soil and trees, two of which she said were cut back while AEG was using the park this summer, as well as the loss of such a large space for park users in an area with significant socioeconomic challenges.
Victoria Park is one of the largest green spaces serving Tower Hamlets and Hackney, the first and third most densely populated local authority areas in England and Wales. The two boroughs also share London’s highest child poverty rate, at 50 per cent after housing costs, according to Trust for London.
Pimm said residents were not necessarily opposed to festivals, but that having a third of the park “shut off” for 75 days a year for six years was “just too much”.
“Even people who were saying generally they’re pro-festivals were appalled at what was being proposed,” she added.
In her notes from the meeting, Pimm described the council as unresponsive to concerns raised by MPs and residents.
Court ruling
AEG has staged All Points East in Victoria Park since 2018. Until last year it did so without planning permission, relying on rules that allow land to be used temporarily for up to 28 days a year.
In May 2025, a High Court judge ruled that the Brockwell Live festivals in Lambeth had put Brockwell Park out of action for more than 28 days once the time taken to remove stages and fencing was counted.
Events on that scale now need planning permission, which leaves the decision on Victoria Park with Tower Hamlets Council as the local planning authority.
The application was validated in June. The council’s target date for a decision was 1 September, but no committee date has yet been set.
‘Clear separation’
An AEG spokesperson said: “We are aware that a public meeting took place but have yet to be contacted by the group of MPs.
“We welcome the opportunity to engage with the representatives and would be pleased to meet with them to discuss the application in more detail.”
A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: “There is a clear separation between the council’s role as local planning authority and the council’s Arts, Parks and Events Team working with AEG Presents on festivals in Tower Hamlets.”
The council said the application, which seeks to formalise the number of days the park can be used for major events, including set-up and take-down, was still being assessed and would go to its Strategic Development Committee for a decision.
“A committee date has not been scheduled. The planning authority is waiting for updated information from the applicant,” the spokesperson said.
All representations will be reported to the committee, and residents who made them will be notified in writing once a date is confirmed and will be able to register to speak at the meeting, the council added.
“Income generated by events is not a material planning consideration,” the spokesperson said. “The application will be decided in accordance with planning policies and material considerations.
“As the decision will be taken in public, residents will be able to see how the committee arrives at its decision.”
The council did not respond to the MPs’ claim that it had failed to answer their questions, or say whether it would agree to meet them.
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