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Curbs on concerts
• I HAVE been vicar at St Thomas’ Church in Finsbury Park, at the corner of Monsell and St Thomas’s roads, since 1989. Over that time the schedule at the stadium has become increasingly unpredictable.
In 1989, residents could assume that most matches would be played at 3pm on Saturdays with the occasional match on weekday evenings. Now, largely because of the requirements of TV companies, this is rarely the case at weekends and there are more weekday matches.
Although the match schedule is published in about July each year there are frequent changes and additions, often at relatively short notice. The problems caused are twofold: it is very difficult to plan anything locally with any sense of security to ensure that it will not clash with a football match; and having more weekday evening matches affects thousands of people’s journeys home from work.
There used to be a window between the middle of May and the middle of August when it was possible to feel secure about arranging other events. However, this has gradually been eroded with the Emirates Cup in late July/early August, the extension of the season to late May next year, and the Springsteen concerts.
I have great difficulty arranging timings for weddings and other special services at church so that they do not clash with events at the stadium. Contrary to current media reports this church at least is not dying slowly but robust and flourishing!
We should also be sensitive to the needs of the two mosques near Finsbury Park station. Not only are there many worshippers around on Fridays (a day when there was never an event at the stadium until very recently) but Ramadan is gradually moving into the summer months.
At the licensing meeting held at the town hall about the Springsteen concerts, Ken Friar, from Arsenal, whom I have known for nearly 20 years and who is a person to be believed, commented publicly that any concerts would need to be during the window provided by the taking up of the old pitch at the end of each season and the laying of the new one in readiness for the start of the new one.
I assumed this is because any staging and some seating would be on the pitch area. Mr Friar thought this gave a window of at most three weeks between late May and mid-June.
Can we ask for two guarantees to be required with any approval? First, that all concerts will be in this three-week period. Surely we can’t have any more events during the season itself anyway as there is quite enough disruption. And, second, that the dates will be announced at least six months in advance so other people who organise things locally can plan accordingly.
If this is not possible then any approval at this stage should only be provisional and Arsenal must be asked to come back to the licensing authority with specific dates at least six months before the event.
I have no objection in principle as long as these requirements are met. As you know, I was quite vocal before the Springsteen concerts, but am also on record as being very agreeably surprised by the way things were organised at the event.
My concern is under the heading of a “potential public nuisance” should these requirements not be met.
Stephen Coles
St Thomas’ Church, N4 |
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