Regent’s Park football fan fest is stuff of madness

Published: 26 February 2010

• THE Greater London Authority’s proposal to allow a World Cup “fan fest” on Gloucester Green, for just over three weeks, would be wholly inimical to the best interests of Regent’s Park.
To make matters worse alcohol would be available from noon to 10pm.
Against a background of mounting concern about behaviour associated with heavy drinking, to propose that a part of Regent’s Park should be a venue for thousands of football fans is the stuff of madness.
It is apparent that Hyde Park and Regent’s Park, in particular, are increasingly regarded as a mere resource, to be exploited whenever the occasion demands.
The Royal Park’s are one of London’s greatest assets, arguably, the greatest.
No other city possesses so much historical and beautiful green space within its heartland.
I urge the powers-that-be, to take the long-term, civilised view, and leave the park alone.
Its pastoral acres are not there to satisfy the single-minded demands of sporting and commercial interests.
GEOFF TUFFS
Barbican, EC2