Michael, you seem to be putting words into peoples mouths. As far as I can recall and see, few have actually mentioned ' banning' the JC event. That is very emotive terminology and effectively means stopping it from taking place, anywhere, any time, ever. People who voted against it at the Horniman did so likely as not because it simply is not of an appropriate scale for the Horniman Gardens, with or without marshalling or other wonderful but highly impractical ideas. From what I can gather this is not a minority view outside this forum as I gather that even the Horniman themselves are in agreement about this as are the police and Lewisham Council. And also seemingly a number of attendees who could not get in and when they did, could not hear the music well hence are themselves asking for a bigger stage and louder music. Can you see that happening at the Horniman. However 40% of 68 is less than 30 people so hardly a statistically significant representation of what the local community thinks.

So would you argue for keeping an event of this size in at the Horniman even though it meant stifling its growth? Presumably the organiser's and regular participants want an even bigger and more successful event in successive years, and it is unlikely to be able to optimise its success on that site for the various reasons discussed. Everyone seems to forget other potential sites in Forest Hill such as Blythe Hill fields, and Mayow Park on the Sydenham borders which hold greater potential due to their size.

Sorry, but the little Englander references are a little rich and make me laugh ; someone likened the various arguments to those around the Pools. At the centre of the Pools debate was the little issue of ' Willow Way is not in Forest Hill, its 200 yards away in Sydenham'. and ' Its much too further to walk' and other tales of fear and loathing about the area being 'red light 'which were circulated around the local community by scaremongers. I particularly found it rich to have someone(one of these famous women waving clipboards) warn me about Willow Way being 'red light' when there was in fact a brothel extremely close to the existing pools site. Always struck me as a rather petty and frivolous argument throughout this whole saga. If the Pool had ended up in Willow Way, it would still technically have been in' Forest Hill' in my view, but no, its a couple of hundred yards over the border. Bring your passports as well as your goggles please.

The issue of whether large events are encouraged or not in Forest Hill will always surely go back to how people 'see' their local area and what they want from their immediate surroundings. Some time ago there was a survey on the future of the town centre and I recall that the outcome was that most people did not particularly want grand plans or excessive busy- ness. Similarly in the Horniman survey a few years back there were aspirations from some members of the public to turn it into a virtual theme park including I believe a look out tower and revolving restaurant, if my memory serves me correctly. Fortunately most of the respondents and the Horniman themselves took a more conservative view in line with its surroundings. Therefore that considered I would like to know how by any interpretation can people voicing concerns about large scale events, grands projets and the implications of same, be considered to be in the minority in any sense of the word. Personally and openly speaking I do not want to live next to a major entertainment centre with all the hassle, car and foot traffic, and no doubt CPZ area/parking meters that will follow. I know we have a long way to go before that stage and the Horniman is not Wembley, but still, peoples views on the degree of public attention their home gets should be respected and not ridiculed.

All this is increasingly academic anyway- the Horniman have an existing entertainment licence for a capacity of 5000 people and that figure has been assessed as appropriate by the Council and the Met's licensing department. From what I hear its unlikely that the Horniman themselves will want to apply for an extension to this number which would be necessary in order to host another JC or similar event. If people want to keep large events in and around Forest Hill then it would make better sense to assist in the search for a more suitable venue that can cope with the capacity of 10-20000 people and allow such events to take place comfortably ,safely, and reduce aggravation to both attendees and the existing community.