Two music events set to take place in west London’s Gunnersbury Park have both had to relocate in recent days, according to London Centric news site. We fear this will mean a significant loss of much-needed revenue for the Gunnersbury estate but hope it will only be an issue this year. Electronic dance music festival, Waterworks, is moving to The Cause nightclub, and a Lenny Kravitz concert will be held instead at the Crystal Palace Bowl. The change in location is a result of a row over planning permission, following a review in March by Hounslow Council into the park’s licence to operate events.

The review was triggered by the Gunnersbury Park Garden Estate residents committee, which has long raised concerns over drug use and antisocial behaviour at the festival, as well as unsafe noise levels and reduced public access. While Hounslow Council chose not to revoke the park’s premises licence, in April it announced a new set of conditions for future events held there, including a capacity cap and mandatory community engagement plan with local residents.

Last week Waterworks announced that a delay in planning permission being granted for the event left it with no option but to relocate, or risk committing to spending “hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of infrastructure orders, supplier and crew commissioning, with no certainty of permission in place.”
The statement by Waterworks said that plans are “underway” for the festival to return to the park in 2027.