In the five years to 2023 commercial events in Trent Park had been increasing in both scale and frequency. Up to 25,000 people had been descending on the Park over a weekend bringing all kinds of anti-social behaviour to Cockfosters, as well as damaging the fabric of the Park.
CLARA worked with the Friends of Trent Park and the Park’s Conservation Committee to oppose the relicensing of these mega-events in 2023 and 2024. We pressed to ensure increased levels of marshalling and security would be in place to protect Cockfosters. We now have plans in place for both Enfield and Barnet roads that will apply to any future events.
You can read the report we submitted to Enfield Council on the two largest events held in the Park in 2019 by clicking here. Although now five years old, if mega-events were to resume, our report would almost certainly still hold good.
The Park is a resource for the wider community. We have no objection to the smaller ‘family’ events provided they are well-managed, do not damage the Park and do not effectively render the Park a no-go area for users for days on end. Nor must they unreasonably interfere with the lives of Cockfosters residents.
Enfield Council has told us that there are no plans for mega-events in 2025 although we believe the Council is exploring options to increase revenue from the Park. However, economic viability across the Events Sector is an issue because of costs pressures and the risk associated with running events; a number of similar events nearby and elsewhere have been cancelled in the last year.