Dame Judi Dench joins campaign against Regent's Park ‘fan zone’

Published: 19 February 2010 - UPDATED
by JAMIE WELHAM

DAME Judi Dench has written to Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Culture Minister Ben Bradshaw urging them to abandon plans to make Regent’s Park a “fan zone” during the World Cup, the West End Extra has learned.

Dame Judi fears the event, which is expected to draw 20,000 football fans to the park every day during the summer tournament, will severely disrupt performances at the historic Open Air Theatre, of which she is a trustee.

The theatre’s director confirmed the distinguished actress had written the letter, saying she was “deeply worried” about the impact of the event that directly clashes with a 15-week summer season of performances.

It comes as London Zoo issued a statement warning that the fan zone would create a “serious animal welfare issue” and was “wholly inappropriate”.

Experts predict noise levels will exceed 100 decibels, equivalent to Concorde on take-off, when the crowd cheers a goal. 

William Village, executive director at the Open Air Theatre since 2006 said: “Dame Judi is gravely concerned about the potential disruption the noise could bring to our summer season. She has written personally to Boris Johnson and Ben Bradshaw to raise our concerns. We are baffled as to why they have chosen Regent’s Park.”

Mr Village played down speculation that performances would be cancelled and would not comment on any potential loss of ticket revenue. He added that he was confident the fast-mobilising campaign to block the plans would be successful.

An application from the Mayor’s Office has been lodged with Camden Council to erect a self-contained arena complete with giant screen, grandstand, hospitality area, and room for 20,000 fans on Gloucester Green. The deadline for objections passed this week, with the council’s licensing committee due to make a ruling on March 11. 

The popular 1,000-seat theatre situated in the centre of the park, where Dame Judi has performed in the past, is taking bookings for productions of The Crucible and The Comedy of Errors which start in May and run to August. Lunchtime and evening performances get underway at exactly the same time World Cup matches are scheduled to kick off.

The Royal Parks Agency, which manages Regent’s Park, say they hope the fan zone will bring in a new audience to the park. It is also seen to be crucial in paving the way for England’s bid to host the tournament in 2018.

The director of London Zoo, Ralph Armond, is understood to be furious with the plans, although it is believed he is reluctant to go on the record in case of jeopardising his relationship with the Royal Parks Agency. The zoo is home to 16,000 animals, and managers have not ruled out having to move some of them off-site.

A statement issued this week said: “The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has serious concerns about the proposed Fan Fest event and licensing application, particularly with regard to its impact on zoo animal welfare. We believe that 24 days of exceptional noise adjacent to the zoo could create a serious animal welfare issue.”

Adrian Fourcin, a retired professor of hearing and phonetic sciences at University College London, lent weight to the zoo’s concerns, claiming the expected jump in volume will endanger animals. 

Typically a person can tolerate about two hours of 90 decibels per day before risking hearing loss, but for animals that figure would vary, with some having a much lower threshold, research collected by the Acoustical Society of America shows.

Regent’s Park registers average noise levels of between 0db – silence – and 50db – equivalent to the hum of a quiet library – according to data collected by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Mr Fourcin said: “If you put 20,000 football fans in an enclosed space all pointing in the same direction it concentrates the sound. They are going to make a hell of a lot of noise.”

His fears were echoed by the man masterminding the battle-plan to stop the fan zone, the chairman of the Friends of Regent’s Park, Malcolm Kafetz. He said: “The plans conveniently contain nothing about the noise but our research combined with the DEFRA data shows just how devastating it would be.”