24 April Update:
A Licensing Sub-Committee was held on 22 April to determine the application. The recording is available here.
The application was granted with a number of conditions applied to the licence. The full decision notice detailing these conditions and the reasons for the decision will be published on the Council’s website by 5pm on 29 April.
Merton Council is planning to make it easier for safe, high-quality and well-managed events to take place in Morden Park.
The park is one of the borough’s most popular open spaces, with many different types of events happening throughout the year, including the annual fireworks display, Morden Family Fun Day, Library in the Park, and the Garage Nation music festival.
Currently, all events must apply to the council for an individual agreement, either via a temporary event notice (TEN) or an event specific premises license in order to go ahead.
This process can be bureaucratic and time-consuming for both the organiser and the council – time which could be better used to make these events even better for everyone and focus more on the safety elements.
To improve this, the council wants to apply for a permanent premises licence for Morden Park. Many parks in London and across the country already hold this type of licence.
The license allows a range of regulated activities – such as film screenings, plays and live music – to take place, in principle and under strict conditions. It also permits the sale of alcohol, again in principle and under strict conditions.
These are things which, in the majority of cases, would have been granted anyway.
A permanent licence does not mean events can automatically take place. All events must still apply to the council and gain its permission. This includes events hosted by the council itself as well as events hosted by external organisations, all of which must meet strict conditions to be approved.
What a permanent premises licence does mean is that the whole process becomes much more efficient without compromising on scrutiny of event plans, giving the council and emergency services more time to focus on areas such as safety, noise levels, traffic management, and the impact on the local community.
Large events, and any other events that may have specific cultural or other sensitivities, will continue to be reviewed by the borough’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG). The SAG group comprises representatives from the council along with all emergency services including the police, ambulance service and the fire brigade.
Whether events are allowed to go ahead will remain the responsibility of the council, following input from this group.
The council is inviting residents to a community meeting about the proposed changes at Merton Civic Centre, on Thursday April 3, at 6pm, where they can ask questions.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is a permanent premises licence?
A permanent premises licence permits the following licensable activities: regulated entertainment including plays, showing films, indoor sporting events, boxing or wrestling entertainment, live music, recorded music, and performances of dance; supply of alcohol; and late-night refreshment.
Before this is granted the council must demonstrate consideration of: prevention of crime and disorder; public safety; prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm.
Why is the council submitting this application?
Currently, any event expecting to host a large number of attendees must apply for a separate premises licence.
This is a time-consuming process for both event organisers and the council.
This is widely used when a venue has more than one or two events a year. Morden Park remains a popular venue for event organisers, and is expecting to host the same number of large events this year as it has in previous years. We are also looking to increase the number of smaller community and cultural events, making use of the newly refurbished bandstand.
A permanent premises licence will give the council more time and scope to carefully scrutinise events plans without having to focusing on conditions already covered and held accountable under the permanent events licence.
How does the council manage event proposals?
Licensing is just one part of our event approval process. Each and every event will continue to undergo stringent scrutiny on issues such as safety, noise, traffic and impact on the local community.
Large events will continue to be reviewed by our borough’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG).
The SAG includes representatives from the council, police, emergency services, and transport authorities. This group uses their local knowledge to help ensure that events are safe, well-organised, and successful.
The council will continue to keep residents, the Friends of Morden Park, and other park users informed about upcoming events as they are proposed and approved.
It will also continue to cap the number of events held at the park and remains conscious of the impact that events have on residents and users of the park. The income from external events goes towards helping maintain our high-quality parks and green spaces, that are loved by the community.
The council is committed to these standards but in these challenging financial times, during which government funding has reduced by nearly 40 per cent in real terms between 2010 and 2024, it needs to look at how best to bring in income for the benefit of the community. Developing the cultural offer in our parks is something that has been identified by residents as something they would like to see.
What are the council’s plans for events in Morden Park?
Merton recently won a funded award called the Greater London Authority Cultural Impact Award.
This gives the council a unique chance to host a series of cultural events and creative projects in community and green spaces from 2026. This is something residents asked the council to do.
The programme will feature events of all sizes, from small concerts and theatre performances on our soon-to-be refurbished bandstand, to larger events in Morden Park and elsewhere.
In the coming months the park will host the We Are Merton Festival, which will be free for 10,000 Merton residents, as well as Merton’s third Big Sports Day event, co-created with dozens of local sports clubs and organisations.