‘We’ll pay a big penalty for fan zone’

Published: 4 February 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

A BATTLEPLAN to mobilise thousands of residents against proposals to turn Regent’s Park into a “Fan Zone” during this summer’s football World Cup has been thrust into action.
Negotiations are under way between the Mayor’s Office and the Royal Parks Agency to rent Gloucester Green in the north of the park. Organisers want to erect a giant screen, a grandstand, a hospitality area and space for 20,000 fans during the month-long tournament in June and July.
A licensing application has already been lodged with Camden Council.
But the Friends of Regent’s Park group has been blitzing households with leaflets warning them of the plans, which, if granted, they say will overrun the park with raucous football supporters who will shatter the peace with alcohol-fuelled chanting into the night.
Under the proposals, every game will be shown on the giant screen, and fans will be able to buy alcohol up until the final whistle, which in some cases will be until as late as 10pm.
The furore has started a debate over how the public park is being used, with some believing managers of the Royal Parks Agency to be effectively implementing a back door privatisation policy to raise funds.
More than 40 events are scheduled to be held in the park this year alone. The full 2010 calendar has been released under Freedom of Information rules and is regarded as evidence by those who argue the Royal Parks increasingly lease out sections of public space regardless of the concerns of regular users.
Nick Pahl, who lives in Albert Street, said: “I know my neighbours and other local residents share my concern at the size of events in Regent’s Park. And it’s not only the time of the events but also the set-up and take-down time with their lorries and numerous lorries and tractors putting park users in danger.”
Helen Bryan, who has lived in Park Village East for 30 years, said: “I think residents are waking up to this now, and Camden Council won’t be able to ignore us, if we oppose the plans en-masse. It’s not right to take the park away from the public, especially in the summer.
“Having kids in the playground with alcohol and football is a terrible mix.”
The Royal Parks would not disclose how much money they expect to make from the Fan Zone because of “commercial confidentiality”, but its guidelines state that events are “carefully considered to provide a range of recreational opportunities, which enhance the reputation of the Royal Parks”.
The Agency already holds an existing “premises licence” for the park through Camden Council but it limits the timetable to four major “event days” a year.
Malcolm Kafetz, chairman of the Friends of Regent’s Park group, is urging residents to put their names to his ready-made objection notices. He hopes the tactic will elicit a bumper response that will persuade licensing chiefs to boot out the application when it is heard next month.
“A lot of people don’t have the time to write, and we know these ready-made forms work,” said Mr Kafetz.
“The proposals are worse then we first realised – 20,000 people every day for the best part of the month is just too much. It is going to be sheer chaos.”
Camden’s London Assembly Member, Brian Coleman, has written directly to Boris Johnson to demand a rethink.
He said: “People who live locally will get no peace whatsoever.”
A Royal Parks spokeswoman said: “We have a strict criteria that we use to determine what events we will have in our parks.
“These look at the park itself, park users and local residents and the relevance to the park of each event. We feel the FIFA Fan Fest will bring in new people to Regent’s Park especially in the 13-19 age range and this is important as well as having a lot of public interest in the World Cup.
“It’s true that an area of the park will need to be cordoned off but we would say that it is a large park and there are other places that people can enjoy.”