Southwark council scraps annual fireworks display over climate emergency

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Council officials have blamed climate change for its decision as they scrapped a popular fireworks display.

Southwark council official Joseph Brown said it would be “very difficult” for the local authority to host an eco-friendly fireworks display of the same size as ones it put on previously.

The annual November display in Bermondsey had taken place for 16 years in a row until the Labour-run council called it off in 2020 due to Covid-19. The event failed to return the following year.

Officials claimed the council’s climate change commitments made it hard for it to continue hosting the event.

Joseph Brown, Southwark’s cabinet boss, told a scrutiny meeting on Wednesday: “We are in a position where we have to balance all our decisions against our climate emergency priorities, and we know it’s very difficult to run a carbon neutral fireworks display on the scale we have done previously.

“We would have to find a way to offset that in order to do it.”

Labour-controlled Wandsworth council has committed to making its annual fireworks display in Battersea Park carbon neutral this year.

Measures it is taking to make the event eco-friendly include planting trees to offset the carbon released by fireworks and banning single-use plastics.

Cllr Victor Chamberlain, Liberal Democrat member for Borough and Bankside, said: “Despite the many budget pressures we face in local government, other councils are still managing to protect firework events like this and host them in an environmentally sustainable way.

“The council needs to use its imagination and work with sponsors to keep events like this going for local people.”

Cllr Catherine Rose, the Labour-run council’s cabinet member for parks, said: “Southwark council has made a decision not to hold a fireworks display this year, or going forward.

“The cost of living crisis, coupled with the fallout from Covid-19, means we have a duty to protect essential services that support residents and businesses.

“We will be using our resources for this, and to support our parks all year round.”

Pictured top: Southwark Park in Bermondsey where the fireworks display used to take place (Picture: Google Street View)