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Parties in park vetoed by Lords
Attempt to bypass 1894 Act ban rejected
THE House of Lords has thrown out a request by Camden Council
to allow it to stage corporate events being staged in Lincoln’s
Inn Fields.
Now the Town Hall’s former Labour planning chief, Councillor
Brian Woodrow, has demanded to know how much money was spent
by Camden Council on challenging an act of Parliament which
made it illegal for it to hire out the open space in the heart
of Holborn.
The council aimed to raise £65,000 a year – which
it said it would spend on the square – from seven private
events staged annually but its plans were put on hold by an
1894 Act, which banned putting up marquees.
The Town Hall hoped to overturn this by inserting a clause in
the London Local Authorities’ Bill, currently making its
way through the Lords.
But on Thursday Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall, chairwoman of
the committee studying the new legislation, said the case for
the clause had not been made.
She added that the council could come back after discussing
the issue with critics, who include councillors, residents and
businesses and institutes overlooking the square.
Baroness McIntosh saif: “The committee advises the users
and residents of Lincoln’s Inn Fields to form a consultative
body and engage in dialogue with Camden as to how the Fields
should be maintained in future.”
Cllr Woodrow called the House of Lords’ judgment “damning”
and added that councillors had not been given sufficient time
to debate the clause.
Residents and businesses in the area argued that previous events
staged at the square had been disruptive.
Jo Weir, chairwoman of Covent Garden Community Association,
said: “It is a sensible decision. Corporate events are
not meant to be in the square. It’s our space not theirs.”
She added: “We haven’t got much open space as it is.
Many people use and love the square and corporate events in
the past have been devastating.”
Will Palin, who appeared at the committee representing the Sir
John Soane Museum, said the square, “an iconic public space
in the heart of the city”, would have been crudely exploited.
A Town Hall press official said events would have attracted
new visitors and raised money to maintain and improve Lincoln’s
Inn Fields.
He added: “Our next steps will be to re-form a conservation
group, following the dissolving of Lincoln’s Inn Fields
Association in 2003.”
The official added: “In the past, funding issues had led
to Lincoln’s Inn Fields becoming run-down and we do not
want to see the park in a poor state of repair again.” |
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