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A one-day dance festival originally due to take place on Clapham Common is the first event to be unveiled as part of the Peninsula Festival, due to take place on waste ground next to Greenwich Millennium Village during the Olympics.

Eastern Electrics had been due to take over part of Clapham Common on 4 August, but was left homeless after Pink House – a gay-themed event which had been planned for the common for the three weeks of the Games – was cancelled after reportedly failing to attract sufficient sponsorship.

Without Pink House’s facilities, Eastern Electrics had been left homeless, but has now been scheduled to take over “area 12″ on the Peninsula – surrounded by the southern side of GMV, the Pilot pub, the O2′s car park and the Blackwall Tunnel approach – from 11am – 10.30pm on 4 August, with a 10,000 capacity.

According to Resident Advisor, the site, which is still being used for storage of roadworks materials, will “feature a main stage and four tents, with a “huge” man-made structure built from shipping containers at the core of the site”. “There’ll also be a VIP area with views over the main area and bar, food and “luxury” toilet facilities.”

This was all announced last week, but has not been reported locally until now. No other events have yet been announced for the Peninsula Festival, which also includes a Dutch campside on the east side of GMV, a beach by the River Thames at Delta Wharf, due to open next month, and a procession of tall ships.

The festival has also been given £50,000 by Greenwich Council for delivery of a “community element”, with the council’s website claiming it will “welcome top artists to Greenwich Peninsula for a series of fantastic music concerts and big screens showing live coverage of the Games”.

Meanwhile, work is under way on a similar event on the north side of the Thames. Backed by Newham Council and City Hall, the London Pleasure Gardens, inspired by Victorian parks at Vauxhall and North Woolwich, is close to the Royal Docks cable car terminal, on the south side of Royal Victoria Dock.

It promises a “free family festival with live music and entertainment”, dance event Bloc, Latin American event Carnaval del Pueblo and a stage for the River of Music event, which is also taking place at Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College.

Nederlandse Hospitality in het hartje van de Spelen! If you’ve followed some of the Peninsula Festival stuff on here, this video won’t tell you much that’s new (apart from the discovery of a “subway” line from the peninsula to Woolwich Common). If not, then this should fill in some of the gaps about this summer’s Dutch invasion – concerts, camping, ships and a beach. And £50,000 from Greenwich Council for a “community element”.

Up the road, Lewisham Council’s also forking out for a community party on Blackheath during the Olympics. The programme for The Lewisham Big Screen includes music, film and dancing, and The Mayor’s Quiz Night. You know, I could be up for that last one… hopefully what’s planned for the “community element” on the peninsula (where the stage site is still a storage space for London Marathon portaloos) will be just as good.

One thing that struck me while cycling to and from North Greenwich during the week – the empty plot of land north of Sainsburys in Greenwich has been given a good mowing. Looks like the Dutch Oranjecamping people, part of the Peninsula Festival, have been getting to work. The Meantime Nursery (out of shot on the left) is still very much in place – does anyone know if that’s now going to remain there? I hope so…

“If you need a break and you want to escape from your loneliness…”

Less than four months to go to the Olympics, and there’s not much sign on the ground of much happening with the Peninsula Festival – the beach, campsite and concert area that’s due to take over undeveloped bits of land there this summer. Although the menus are taking shape for its sister event, Sail Royal Greenwich.

But there is a website, and there’s a song. Enjoy.

Something this website has missed over the past couple of months is the upturn in fortunes for the Peninsula Festival – after being comprehensively refused licences in September, plans for concerts on a patch of land between the Pilot pub and the A102 were approved last December, proposals for a campsite have also been backed at the second attempt, while a licensing application for the beach at Delta Wharf comes up before councillors next week. (One interesting change to the beach plan is that that it becomes for invited guests only during the Olympics.)

All of this was due to be at no cost to local taxpayers. Indeed, those promises came right here on this site. In March 2011, I made a reference in a comment to Greenwich Council’s leisure cabinet member John Fahy being the man “in charge of funding the Peninsula Festival”. After all, the publicity for the event was emblazoned with council logos, something which was criticised at the original licensing hearing.

He quickly shot back: “Darryl being naughty again. Greenwich Council is not funding the Peninsula Festival. This is a private sector initiative which is warmly welcomed.”

Indeed, he reaffirmed this later for good measure: “I repeat,there is no funding from the Council to the Peninsula Festival.”

About six weeks later, I interviewed Peninsula Festival founder Frank Dekker, in a piece published in May. He told me: “The council have been very clear from the start – ‘we haven’t got money for this kind of thing’. We have accepted that, and said if you haven’t got money, help us in whichever way you can.”

Fast forward seven months, and things have changed somewhat. On Tuesday, a council scrutiny committee will examine the council’s decision to lavish funds on various cultural events during this Olympic year.

Among the events getting cash? The Peninsula Festival, to the tune of £50,000.

Who made that decision to fund the Peninsula Festival? None other than John “there is no funding from the Council to the Peninsula Festival” Fahy.

Was this the plan all along? Or has something new come up? One thing’s definite, though. When a senior Greenwich councillor calls you “naughty”, you know you’re on the right track.

Their last application was comprehensively thrown out by Greenwich Council’s licensing board, but the plan for a big Dutch campsite right next to the Greenwich Millennium Village during the Olympics was launched anyway a couple of days later. Spot the senior Greenwich councillor in the video above, and try to name the local bigmouth whose laugh you can hear at the end.

Now a new licensing application has gone in from Oranjecamping for a site called “Phases 3, 4 & 5, Peartree Way, Greenwich Peninsula,” with the council taking representations until 9 November. This appears to be mostly separate from the rejected licence which involved Greenwich Yacht Club, as well as the other rejected ones for the beach at Delta Wharf and the concert site off John Harrison Way.

This is for land either side of West Parkside, adjacent to the Millennium Village and ecology park, and a slither of land between Peartree Way and Horn Link Way. Here’s a map from the last licence hearing:

It’s worth noting that last patch of land is right next to the enormous aggregates site at Angerstein Wharf, which actually comes alive at night – pass at midnight and you’ll find its floodlights are on, PA system going and ships unloading. It’s also right next to a regular spot for travellers’ caravans – highlighted by local councillor Dick Quibell in the last licensing meeting, who joked that if Greenwich Council hadn’t been able to move them on for 30 years, it was unlikely anyone else could.

The plans are for films from 0800-2300, live music and dance from 1400-2300, alcohol from 1000-0130 with “late night refreshment” to 0200, and recorded music from 0800-0145. All this would take part between 25 July and 13 August only. More details from Greenwich Council’s licensing team.

Separately, a planning application went in last month for the planned beach at Delta Wharf, with a decision expected in December. If that’s granted, it’ll still need music and alcohol licences – the same ones refused last month.

Champagne and a photocall – this doesn’t look like an event which has just had its licence refused, does it? Peninsula Festival organisers say they still hope to host an event in Greenwich to coincide with the Olympics, even though the council’s licensing board threw out the proposals on Wednesday.

The chaps in the tent, by the way, are Oranjecamping founder Jokko de Wit and Greenwich Council cabinet member for culture John Fahy.

“It’s a process,” festival organiser Frank Dekker said at Thursday’s launch of Sail Royal Greenwich, a sister event which will see around 20 tall ships sail up and down the Thames between Woolwich Arsenal and Tower Bridge. We got taken for a ride around the peninsula on De Wylde Swan, and very nice it was too.

Trips on the ships are mainly aimed at corporates, and there’s no doubt these will go like hot cakes. It’s all based around the hugely popular Sail Amsterdam event, while you can also see what to expect from this gallery of Sail Waterford. Cllr Fahy said he was “blown away” by a trip to Sail Amsterdam, as crowds thronged the quaysides to get a glimpse of the ships.

But the campsite is a big part of these plans – as well as an orange double-decker, which took Dutch fans across South Africa during last summer’s football World Cup, and yesterday took a group of us down to the patch of land just north of Sainsburys where part of the campsite will be.

“This will be the biggest Oranjecamp by far,” said Jokko De Wit. The first one was in Portugal for the Euro 2004, when 1,000 Dutch fans camped out and followed their side.

Now they are expecting 4,000 for Oranjecamping’s first Olympics, in a variety of mostly pre-built tents from luxury en suitetents to dorm-style accomodation, although with a small area (right next to the Southern Way bus lane) where others can pitch their own. “It’s always been our dream to come to an Olympics,” he said, adding he was approached by Greenwich Council a year and a half ago in Rotterdam. Pitches have already gone on sale – despite the licence knockback – and it’s expected up to 80% percent of visitors will be Dutch. They are also hoping to close the roads surrounding the site – which is divided by West Parkside and Peartree Way – while the camp is open.

“We want the world to see how hospitable Greenwich is, and how friendly the Dutch can be when they come to a tournament,” Jokko de Wit said, adding that he hoped to lay grass on the site by the end of the year.

Organisers are not peturbed by the failure of their licence application. “There will be next steps,” Sail Greenwich director Paulus Mooyman told the press, although none of the organisers would be drawn on whether there would be an appeal.

It’s pretty clear that they are determined to get their campsite at a minimum, even if it doesn’t have an alcohol licence. But they also want to make sure campers have something to do nearby – and here’s what the Oranjecampers in South Africa got up to…

Olympics fans won’t be as rowdy as football fans can be. But there’s a big bridge to be crossed between Oranjecamping’s vision of the Peninsula as a party destination next summer, and Greenwich Millennium Village residents who fear their lives will be turned upside down by this. Criticism from police will also have to be addressed.

Meanwhile, a planning application for the beach at Delta Wharf – which also saw its licence refused on Wednesday – has gone in.

The tall ships will definitely come to Greenwich – but as for the rest of the Dutch festival? It’ll be interesting to see what actually does emerge from the Peninsula plans – and the closer you live to the campsite, the closer you’ll probably be watching what happens next.

In a way, it’s a major shock. But if you were in Woolwich Town Hall yesterday, it’ll come as no surprise at all.

Greenwich Council’s licensing committee has refused permission for the four Peninsula Festival licences – meaning no beach, no 20,000-capacity gigs, no campsite, and no “business lounge” on the Greenwich Peninsula during next summer’s Olympics.

Early publicity for the event had carried the council’s logo, as part of its Greenwich Festivals initiative, and cabinet member for culture John Fahy had been a vocal supporter of the event.

Indeed, festival organiser Frank Dekker is renting space from Greenwich Council in offices it is leasing at Mitre Passage, at the top of the peninsula, and in an interview with this website earlier this year had spoken warmly of the expertise the council had made available to him.

But John Fahy’s colleagues, acting in a strict legal capacity, found the application desperately short of detail. In truth, the whole process was dead ten minutes into yesterday’s six-hour hearing, when counsel for the Metropolitan Police laid into the plans for a 20,000-capacity stage area opposite homes on John Harrison Way, for providing a lack of information on just how this would all work.

When barrister Adam Clemens explained that the Met’s facility for dealing with suspicious vehicles was to be right next to the stage area, you could see the wheels start to fall off this plan. What if the police did intercept a car bomb on the site? How would the crowd be evacuated? Without any answers, he said, there could be no backing from the police.

Proceedings continued in a similiar vein all day. A representative from Peninsula Festival contractor G4S said he couldn’t tell councillors about the security plans for, well, security reasons. As one objector pointed out during the afternoon, they may as well have packed up after the police put their foot down, and saved everyone’s time and money.

Those directly affected, residents of the Greenwich Millennium Village plus their neighbours across the Thames, made their voices known in great numbers – even if most couldn’t make a daytime hearing. The presence of a senior Tower Hamlets councillor – opposition leader Peter Golds – added weight to cross-river objections that may otherwise have been overlooked.

But internal strains in the Peninsula Festival organisation also scuppered the scheme. There were disagreements with the Greenwich Yacht Club which meant it was unclear just what councillors were being asked to approve.

But it was problems with the concert area which seemed to scupper the whole thing. The application for the concert area was originally for a 45,000-capacity arena in the name of Kilimanjaro Live, the firm behind the Sonisphere and Wakestock festivals and a sister company to O2 Arena owner AEG. The idea was to hold gigs while the O2 was out of commission during the Olympics.

But with the drop in capacity, Kilimanjaro boss Stuart Galbraith. pulled out. LOCOG’s representative said he only heard the news at 5.45pm the night before the hearing. That’s the Olympics organisers who were said to be working closely with the Peninsula Festival. They wouldn’t back it either. Nor did Transport for London, worried about making too many demands of the Jubilee Line. With a supposedly neutral sound report making comments about a “once in a lifetime” event, councillors weren’t impressed.

So how did we end up here? Why did the council get tangled up with this? There was a genuine desire to find something to liven up the Greenwich area during an Olympics lockdown that will see many attractions closed, and to capitalise on any feelgood factor generated by the games. With few plans for big screens where people can see the action taking place in a shut-off Greenwich Park and other venues, many people will miss an event that they could have enjoyed while the capital is turned on its head for the Olympics.

It may well be that the authorities simply weren’t willing to countenance anything to put additional strain on a stretched city. But with a flawed plan, and unable to reassure neighbours that they weren’t going to be driven mad by noise, it was always going to fail – even in Greenwich.

So what happens now? Will another plan fill the gap? We may find out more today – as Frank Dekker still has one event up his sleeve, Sail Royal Greenwich, which is being launched today. No noise, little hassle – and, most importantly for him, no licence needed from the council. Keep an eye on the river this lunchtime for a preview of something that’s coming to London next summer which few people can argue about.

11.55am, North Greenwich Pier: Frank Dekker’s remaining optimistic about the future. “It’s a process,” he said at the launch of Sail Royal Greenwich. More soon… (…er, on Friday)

Greenwich Council’s licensing committee is discussing the application to hold next summer’s Peninsula Festival after an day-long meeting at Woolwich Town Hall heard sharp criticism of the plans from police, Olympics chiefs and local residents.

Four different licenses are being applied for, but the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London and Olympics organisers LOCOG lined up to criticise each of them, alongside residents on both sides of the river Thames.

Plans to hold concerts for up to 20,000 people – scaled down from the original plans for 45,000 people – were not backed by the Metropolitan Police, with counsel Adam Clemens condemning a “wholesale lack of engagement” on security matters.

“It’s not for the Met to second guess what security resources should be thrown its way,” he said, criticising a lack of detail from event organisers. He added that talk of a 40-page security document was “news to us”, and that a representative of security firm G4S, speaking for the Peninsula Festival, was “a stranger to us”.

LOCOG said it agreed with the police’s concerns.

Alongside the concerts, organisers want to have a events on a “beach” area at Delta Wharf, and a pre-built campsite for 4,500 people on land north of Greenwich Sainsburys, with further events at Greenwich Yacht Club.

But a sister company of O2 owner AEG has dropped out of the concert plans at the last minute, while Peninsula Festival organiser Frank Dekker (above) admitted to differences with Greenwich Yacht Club over what events should be put on at the venue.

Transport for London’s Tony Matthews noted a “lack of visible planning” for the events, saying there was “no indication” what demand there would be for the beach, which Dekker wants to run for five years.

Residents living across the river Thames objected to the noise from parties at the beach, adding that outside events at the O2 compound were already affecting their lives. Local Tower Hamlets councillor Peter Golds said it would be “absolutely unbearable”.

“Noise travels across water and can be magnified by it,” he said, adding that he could hear small disco boats on the Thames from his home with the windows shut.

LOCOG also said access to the beach would be affected by the Olympic Route Network, which would run up Millennium Way to the Dome.

Frank Dekker said the events would “showcase Greenwich and the Peninsula”, but local councillor Mary Mills said there were a “vast number of people with vast number of objections” to the concert in Greenwich Millennium Village, where many homes had poor soundproofing.

She added that GMV residents were hoping the campsite would be quiet, but were dismayed to find an application for alcohol and music licences. “All sorts of things happen when men come out of licensed premises at night,” she said.

The Greenwich Ecology Park also objected to the campsite and business lounge, with representative Joanne Smith saying they were concerned about the effects of people leaving events late and stumbling into the park.

“We haven’t been consulted,” she added. “We were told this would be the quiet end where people were going to sleep. The business lounge couldn’t be nearer to the ecology park if you tried.”

There was also criticism of Greenwich Council’s role, with Cllr Mills saying some residents had become “distrustful” of the council because of the way they thought it had handled the festival, while Tower Hamlets resident Alan Haughton questioned why publicity for the event carried the council’s logo.

“When you see the Greenwich logo on it, you just feel it will go straight ahead,” he said.

Asked by committee chair Maureen O’Mara if he was surprised by the criticism of the plans, Frank Dekker cited a letter from the Greater London Authority suggesting a outline agreement for how the events could work, adding he and the authorities were “talking quite frequently with each other”.

“I had not expected the strong opposition expressed today,” he added.

A decision is expected this evening – this website will be updated if I get the news, or I’ll post it via Twitter using the #peninsulafest hashtag, where you’ll find further coverage from today’s hearing.

The concert area is the brownfield site at the centre of this photo

Backers of the Peninsula Festival have applied to Greenwich Council to hold 45,000-capacity concerts on an empty plot of land in the week before the Olympics.

They want four shows to be held between 19 and 26 July 2012, with eight smaller concerts during the Olympics period itself.

The application, for the land bounded by West Parkside, John Harrison Way and Millennium Way, is in the name of Kilimanjaro Live, the firm behind the Sonisphere and Wakestock festivals, as well as tours by the likes of Andrea Boccelli, Metallica and Simply Red.

The proposed licence would last from 19 July to 12 August, with four concerts with a capacity of up to 45,000 in the week before the Olympics. There would be a further three of 20,000 and five of 10,000 during the Olympics itself. The application is for alcohol to be sold from 10.00-02.00 seven days a week, and for live music between 10.00-02.00.

Any shows after 23.00 will take place in “tented structures”, the application says, and is intended to delay the departure of some of the audience and take the pressure off transport services.

Full details can be obtained from Greenwich Council’s licensing department at licensing@greenwich.gov.uk, with observations needed by 31 August.

A business lounge, yesterday

Meanwhile, other applications have also gone into Greenwich Council for next summer’s beach at Delta Wharf, just to the west of the Blackwall Tunnel, as well as for aspects of the campsite planned for the peninsula during the Olympics.

Delta Wharf Beach. Application for permanent licence from 1st February 2012. Sale of alcohol (on site only) plays, music, dance, 10.00-23.00 all week, Live music weekdays 08.00-23.00 weekends 10.00-23.00 Late night refreshment 23.00-24.00. The application says Delta Wharf will be “transformed into a ‘city beach’ venue until required by the landowners”. “Uses include beach-type entertainment and attractions, children’s playground, licensed bar and light food, hospitality, open air sports facilities, music entertainment, broadcasting, live music, performance and dance.”

Greenwich Yacht Club. From 20th July 2012 to 16th August 2012. Sale of alcohol all week 10.00 – 01.30. Live music Monday-Saturday 10.00-02.00 Sunday 10.00-24.00. Recorded music all week 08.00-24.00. Late night refreshment Monday-Saturday 23.00-02.00. Sunday 23.00-24.00. “To provide entertainment and serve food and beverages to the visitors of the Peninsula Festival at the Marina. The components being the land side buildings at the Greenwich Yacht Club (GYC), the yard of GYC and the club house. Yard to be cleared and dressed as a breakfast space, lunch time piazza and evening live entertainment space for up to 1,000 guests. Open to the public via ticketed access.”

Business Lounge in Peartree Way, within GMV Phase 4. From 20th July 2012 to 14th August 2012. Supply of alcohol from 09.00-22.00. “The business lounge on the Oranjecamping is a by-invitation space for sponsors, business guests, and other VIPs to relax, enjoy a drink, and meet like-minded people. Internet access, newspapers, and complimentary drinks (coffee, tea, soft drinks, beer, wine and champagne) will be provided to guests. The maximum capacity of the business lounge is less than 500 people.”

That “business lounge” application is for the patch of land opposite the yacht club, by the way. The campsite itself is immediately south of that, on the land between West Parkside and Bugsbys Way. Representations on these three applications need to be made by 25 August, to the same address. The councillors for Peninsula ward would also be grateful to hear your views, I’m sure.

Peninsula Festival organiser Frank Dekker spoke to this website earlier this year about his plans. One thing that strikes me – with Southeastern cutting train services for the Olympics, forcing people to North Greenwich Tube, could the transport network cope with an additional load of visitors? I’ve also heard some rumblings of discontent from ecology park users and from residents north of the river.

But then again, it’ll really build up the Olympics buzz next summer. There could well be a few summer nights sat out on the peninsula’s parks listening out for what can be heard over the fence from the big stage. A bit like a bigger Greenwich Summer Sessions. For or against, I’d be interested to know what you think.