The number Lambeth won’t reveal: Brockwell Live 2025 payment finalised – but kept secret

Just days after the High Court ruled — for a second time — that Lambeth Council acted unlawfully in its handling of Brockwell Live 2025, another question remains unanswered.

How much did Summer Events Ltd actually pay Lambeth to use Brockwell Park last year?

The timing matters. The latest High Court Order quashed two further decisions relied upon by the Council in 2025 and formally declared that Lambeth failed to properly direct itself in its role as statutory trustee of Brockwell Park.

Under that Order, the Council must pay the claimant’s legal costs, subject to the Aarhus cap of £35,000, and make an interim payment of £10,000 within 15 working days.

This comes on top of earlier legal costs reported to have reached approximately £185,000 before the Council withdrew its appeal in the first round of proceedings.

Taken together, legal challenges linked to Brockwell Live 2025 have now cost the public purse well over £200,000, with further sums still subject to assessment.

Against that backdrop, clarity over how much the event generates for the Council takes on renewed significance.

After nearly a year of Freedom of Information requests submitted by Brixton Buzz, Lambeth has now confirmed one crucial fact. The amount paid by Summer Events Ltd for Brockwell Live 2025 has been finalised.

And it will not disclose it.

In a response dated 3 March 2026, the Council confirmed that it receives a site hire fee from Summer Events Ltd, that the fee is negotiated and variable, and that the total payable for 2025 has now been agreed.

But when asked for the final figure, Lambeth refused. It cited Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act — commercial interests — arguing that releasing the number could prejudice future negotiations.

So the figure exists. It is known internally. It has been signed off.

It remains secret.

That refusal is the final chapter in a detailed investigation that began not with the festival, but with the park itself.

In September 2025, Brixton Buzz asked Lambeth a straightforward question: what does it cost to maintain Brockwell Park properly each year?

The Council’s first response was narrow. It provided limited, function-specific figures for 2024/25.

Children’s play area inspections cost £440 per year. The paddling pool, open from May to September, cost £21,000. Public toilet statutory checks cost £1,750. Repairs and maintenance were listed at £1,000.

Those figures felt partial. They did not reflect the reality of staffing, utilities, waste, supervision and compliance required to run a major urban park.

So a second request was submitted.

In November 2025, Lambeth provided a much fuller breakdown of the estimated operational costs for Brockwell Park. What emerged was a comprehensive picture of the machinery required to keep the park functioning.

Staffing costs included a Senior Park Attendant at £57,925 per year, a Gardener at £46,449, two Park Attendant roles at £41,829 each, and an Operations Manager allocation of £37,817.50. A Senior Parks and Sports Development Officer allocation was listed at £43,770. There were also supervisory roles and operational oversight allocations included within the overall calculation.

Waste disposal alone was listed at £40,250 per year. Water costs totalled £25,595.55. Electricity was £8,188. Toilet consumables came to £6,325. External contractors for repairs and maintenance were budgeted at £17,250. Drinking fountain commissioning and compliance amounted to £23,437.

There were grass cutting teams, weekend park attendants, uniforms, mulch deliveries, tree maintenance programmes, sports pitch works and vehicle running costs.

When all of these staffing, material, compliance and operational inputs were proportionally allocated to Brockwell Park, the estimated annual cost of operating the park came to £758,710.

Three-quarters of a million pounds a year.

That is the estimated cost of keeping Brockwell Park open, maintained and compliant.

The next step in the investigation was to ask what had actually been spent. In January 2026, Lambeth explained that many operational costs are not recorded at park-by-function level because delivery is structured across the borough’s wider parks portfolio.

However, it confirmed recorded expenditure figures for specific functions including children’s play areas, paddling pools, public toilets and repairs and maintenance.

Then came a further logical question. If the park costs £758,710 per year to operate, and some costs are centrally allocated, does any external funding support it?

In February 2026, Lambeth confirmed to Brixton Buzz that no grants or external funding had been received for the upkeep of Brockwell Park in the previous financial year.

The park is funded internally.

At that stage, the financial context was clear. Brockwell Park costs in the region of £758,710 annually to run. It receives no external grants. It depends on internal funding streams.

Lambeth has repeatedly stated publicly that events in Brockwell Park generate around £500,000 per year which is reinvested locally. That figure appears in Council communications defending the events programme.

But that headline number is not broken down. It is not clear whether it refers specifically to Brockwell Live, whether it combines multiple events, whether it represents gross income or net income after costs.

With legal challenges already costing well over £200,000, and with a further £35,000 costs exposure now ordered by the High Court, the income side of the ledger becomes harder to ignore.

So the final FOI was submitted.

The question was direct: what was the total amount paid by Summer Events Ltd for Brockwell Live 2025?

The Council confirmed it receives a site hire fee. It confirmed the fee is negotiated and variable, based on land area used, duration of occupation and maximum capacity per event day. It confirmed that the total payable for 2025 has been finalised.

It refused to disclose the figure.

The Council’s reasoning is that releasing the income data could prejudice its commercial interests in future negotiations in what it describes as a competitive market. It states that the public interest test favours maintaining the exemption.

After almost a year of requests, clarifications and documented responses, the position is now starkly simple.

Running Brockwell Park costs an estimated £758,710 per year. There are no external grants covering that upkeep. Legal proceedings linked to Brockwell Live 2025 have already cost the Council more than £200,000, with a further £35,000 costs exposure confirmed by the High Court. Brockwell Live generates a negotiated payment. The 2025 amount has been agreed.

And Lambeth Council will not reveal what it is.

The number exists.

The public just isn’t allowed to know it.