(Update from the Friends of Alexandra Park newsletter)
Premises license update
There was a full house at the public meeting in the palace organised by Louise Stewart, chief executive of the Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust, on the 31st of January. Louise and her team, including Simon Fell director of event operations, explained the benefit of obtaining a premises licence, the type of events being considered, which areas of the park would be affected and how these events will be managed and monitored.
Louise explained that having one licence for a specified number of events would lead to a more coherent and consistent approach to planning and managing events than applying for a licence for each event.
Possible events fall into two main categories:
- Where music is the prime purpose. This encompasses events such as arts festivals, earlier Kenwood-style concerts and smaller events in the Grove or food festivals on the south slope.
- Where music is not the prime purpose. This would include the existing two-day fireworks event, the Red Bull Soapbox Derby and a possible outdoor theatre production or a winter extravaganza.
People were aware of the financial issues facing the Trust in maintaining and improving the park and palace. While they broadly supported some increase in park events, there are three areas which are causing a lot of concern:
1. Currently, there seems to be no overall policy towards the management of the park which balances commercial needs with its many other uses and its rich and varied habitat. The park is highly valued as an open and peaceful green space and it would be worrying to see that slowly but irrevocably damaged.
2. Although the number and mix of events outlined at the meeting is unlikely to be reached in the near future, over time, as they increase, there could be significant damage to certain areas of the park as well as the regular loss of access.
3. Large events run the risk of having a harmful impact on the surrounding area – noise, parking and large numbers exiting after events.
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