Every Saturday and Sunday night around 10 o’clock, my poor dog (pedigree mutt) turns into a barking, shivering and shaking bag of nerves. It’s the Kenwood Concerts!

These wonderful concerts stretch way back in my memory (as I lived in Highgate on and off from the age of 5). Of course, in the good old days there weren’t that many; there certainly weren’t as many with firework displays – and there was no corporate hospitality.

Halcyon days when the hoi-polloi could go early enough with blanket and picnic to get right to the front. There was no roped off section. No deckchairs. Just happy bunnies laying out their blankets and picnics higgledy-piggledy. And it was sooooo cheap by comparison to today’s somewhat pricey outing. You’re looking at £100 for four basic – which is a lot for a family outing!

I know, I know – it’s the way of the world. Once it was taken over by ‘professional management’ – it all changed. I guess I am whistling for the moon. However, the increased commercialism has meant increased numbers, increased, parking, increased noise and increased disruption.

Each year now there is a battle between residents and concert organisers over the number of concerts and number of firework displays. Now you cannot park on any Saturday or Sunday for most of Hampstead Road from 2 – 10pm. Beware – because the signs are not overly obvious and the wardens are keen.

I write letters some years to plead for mercy for my dog – but the other side of the coin is that I still think the Kenwood Concerts are incredibly special and a wonderful night out on a summer’s eve and I am kind of proud that they belong to Highgate. And I still go at least once or twice a year.

I sit outside the official ticketed area with friends and children and we have our picnic, listen vaguely to what we can hear of the music, play games and watch the firework display free of charge.

So – as ever – the answer has to lie in the organisers working with local residents to find a reasonable compromise in terms of numbers of concerts and number of firework displays. And I think all of us who go to the concerts – whether we are local or not – we owe a debt of thanks to those residents who suffer our intrusion as we all traipse through their neck of the woods on a beautiful English summer’s eve.

Note: My colleagues in Highgate ward (Lib Dem councillors Bob Hare, Justin Portess and Neil Williams) have written a letter going into some detail about the current plans that are up for debate. You can read it here.