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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/01/uk-parks-protection-organised-fun-councils-peace
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| The UK’s parks are precious. They need protection from organised fun | The UK’s parks are precious. They need protection from organised fun |
| (4 months later) | |
| Last week I trotted dutifully up to a corner of Hampstead Heath, to record a BBC radio programme devoted to nature writing and, specifically, trees. All morning, producers looked anxiously at the leaking sky and filled out risk assessment forms to shield us from falling acorns and rampant squirrels; as the heavens brightened, we lowered ourselves gingerly on to blankets and prepared to entertain the nation. All I can add is that it’s one thing getting down, and quite another getting up. As I said to the sound engineer, whose recording equipment was balanced expertly on a tree trunk, it’s no mean feat if you’re fat and 50. | Last week I trotted dutifully up to a corner of Hampstead Heath, to record a BBC radio programme devoted to nature writing and, specifically, trees. All morning, producers looked anxiously at the leaking sky and filled out risk assessment forms to shield us from falling acorns and rampant squirrels; as the heavens brightened, we lowered ourselves gingerly on to blankets and prepared to entertain the nation. All I can add is that it’s one thing getting down, and quite another getting up. As I said to the sound engineer, whose recording equipment was balanced expertly on a tree trunk, it’s no mean feat if you’re fat and 50. |
| But as conversation flowed, what riches: the American novelist Richard Powers, author of a vast novel about the power of trees, describing an epiphany as he walked the forest high above Silicon Valley and realised that none of what was below would exist without the surrounding plant life; Jessica J Lee describing her research into the long history of the heath and its multiple uses; and discussing with Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the Barley, the insistent influence of class and power on these seemingly purely bucolic spaces. | But as conversation flowed, what riches: the American novelist Richard Powers, author of a vast novel about the power of trees, describing an epiphany as he walked the forest high above Silicon Valley and realised that none of what was below would exist without the surrounding plant life; Jessica J Lee describing her research into the long history of the heath and its multiple uses; and discussing with Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the Barley, the insistent influence of class and power on these seemingly purely bucolic spaces. |
| London's parks accused of 'creeping privatisation' of public spaces | |
| The experience resurfaces in the light of a study by the urban geographer Dr Andrew Smith, who examined the changing use of three of London’s green spaces: Finsbury Park, Gunnersbury Park and Brockwell Park, to the north, west and south-east of central London. In brief, he argues councils are depending more and more on the revenues they raise by renting parks out privately for large events such as concerts and festivals. One illuminating discovery was that Battersea Park had played host to approximately 99 festivals in 1991 but more than 600 in 2016. The Friends of Finsbury Park claim that in the first eight months of 2018 the park has been “occupied” by festivals for 113 days (Haringey council contests the figure, putting it at 66 days, and says that events such as the Wireless festival do not take over the entire park but merely a portion of it). | The experience resurfaces in the light of a study by the urban geographer Dr Andrew Smith, who examined the changing use of three of London’s green spaces: Finsbury Park, Gunnersbury Park and Brockwell Park, to the north, west and south-east of central London. In brief, he argues councils are depending more and more on the revenues they raise by renting parks out privately for large events such as concerts and festivals. One illuminating discovery was that Battersea Park had played host to approximately 99 festivals in 1991 but more than 600 in 2016. The Friends of Finsbury Park claim that in the first eight months of 2018 the park has been “occupied” by festivals for 113 days (Haringey council contests the figure, putting it at 66 days, and says that events such as the Wireless festival do not take over the entire park but merely a portion of it). |
| Smith’s research focused on London, but the picture is similar throughout the UK, from Heaton Park in Manchester to Sefton Park in Liverpool (where, in fact, the council and residents came to an agreement over noise levels), from Hylands Park in Chelmsford, where the V festival has given way to the RiZe festival, to Eastville Park in Bristol, soon to host the Tokyo World Festival. | Smith’s research focused on London, but the picture is similar throughout the UK, from Heaton Park in Manchester to Sefton Park in Liverpool (where, in fact, the council and residents came to an agreement over noise levels), from Hylands Park in Chelmsford, where the V festival has given way to the RiZe festival, to Eastville Park in Bristol, soon to host the Tokyo World Festival. |
| Rhetorically speaking, the battle lines seem clear: those who wish to preserve the integrity of open spaces as one of the few areas of urban life that can be accessed for free by a wide range of people; and those who point to the importance of using those spaces to generate a more diverse range of activities and, by extension, users. That councils have also been forced to seek ever more lucrative ways of creating revenue is largely beyond dispute. | Rhetorically speaking, the battle lines seem clear: those who wish to preserve the integrity of open spaces as one of the few areas of urban life that can be accessed for free by a wide range of people; and those who point to the importance of using those spaces to generate a more diverse range of activities and, by extension, users. That councils have also been forced to seek ever more lucrative ways of creating revenue is largely beyond dispute. |
| In the ideal world from which we now seem so very far, common ground would be easily accessible: a recognition that the feeling of relatively unregulated peace can and must coexist with the spectacular, the loud and the populous. A well-rested group of regulars would happily cede their territory to a one-off event, after which everyone would clear up their mess nicely, say thank you, and be on their way. In the actual world we’re stuck with, that accommodation immediately raises issues. If parks must cater for those who would walk their dogs, exercise their children, meet their family and friends, play their football and spot their birds, the problem is how to make way for the modern-style jamboree, which brings with it not merely, for example, a few bands on a stage, but a small village of street-food vans, merchandise vendors and other ways to relieve punters of their hard-earned cash. | In the ideal world from which we now seem so very far, common ground would be easily accessible: a recognition that the feeling of relatively unregulated peace can and must coexist with the spectacular, the loud and the populous. A well-rested group of regulars would happily cede their territory to a one-off event, after which everyone would clear up their mess nicely, say thank you, and be on their way. In the actual world we’re stuck with, that accommodation immediately raises issues. If parks must cater for those who would walk their dogs, exercise their children, meet their family and friends, play their football and spot their birds, the problem is how to make way for the modern-style jamboree, which brings with it not merely, for example, a few bands on a stage, but a small village of street-food vans, merchandise vendors and other ways to relieve punters of their hard-earned cash. |
| I return to anecdote, which does not always have to be the enemy of data, and can sometimes usefully contextualise it. The same day I had plonked my bum down on the heath, I met some friends at that other great British destination, the pub. On the outside of a few jars, we prepared to say our pavement goodbyes. As sometimes happens, a youngish man approached and began to talk. It was a familiar enough city tale – he had been homeless for a time, but now had a medium-term spot in a hostel; he was getting a bit of work as a painter and decorator and was hopeful that he might be able to move to somewhere permanent before too long. | I return to anecdote, which does not always have to be the enemy of data, and can sometimes usefully contextualise it. The same day I had plonked my bum down on the heath, I met some friends at that other great British destination, the pub. On the outside of a few jars, we prepared to say our pavement goodbyes. As sometimes happens, a youngish man approached and began to talk. It was a familiar enough city tale – he had been homeless for a time, but now had a medium-term spot in a hostel; he was getting a bit of work as a painter and decorator and was hopeful that he might be able to move to somewhere permanent before too long. |
| He was also carrying something: a notebook of medium size, which he suddenly opened. It was filled with drawings he had done in the local park, at times when he wasn’t working and felt the need to escape his communal dwellings. On its first page, a huge tree, rendered in pencil and intricate detail; thereafter, sketches of its grounds and plants, a portrait of the old pub just outside the park gates, caricatures of the people he met. One picture was brooding and smudgy – it had, he said, started to rain when he was partway through. | He was also carrying something: a notebook of medium size, which he suddenly opened. It was filled with drawings he had done in the local park, at times when he wasn’t working and felt the need to escape his communal dwellings. On its first page, a huge tree, rendered in pencil and intricate detail; thereafter, sketches of its grounds and plants, a portrait of the old pub just outside the park gates, caricatures of the people he met. One picture was brooding and smudgy – it had, he said, started to rain when he was partway through. |
| A walk in the park? Not so easy as festivals take over green spaces | |
| Nobody can say what a park means to all its users. Nobody knows what conversations are provoked as we stroll along, what agonies soothed or problems thought through. To continue in a remorselessly emotional vein, the last photograph I have of a dear friend before her death a fortnight later is of her sitting on a camping chair watching the amateur cricketers in Victoria Park, an impromptu outing when she still felt strong enough to seek out noise and company and sunlight. | Nobody can say what a park means to all its users. Nobody knows what conversations are provoked as we stroll along, what agonies soothed or problems thought through. To continue in a remorselessly emotional vein, the last photograph I have of a dear friend before her death a fortnight later is of her sitting on a camping chair watching the amateur cricketers in Victoria Park, an impromptu outing when she still felt strong enough to seek out noise and company and sunlight. |
| People are also mugged and assaulted in parks, women harassed and raped as they run, drugs taken. It doesn’t do to be too utopian when there’s still dog shit and needles on the ground and pollution choking our lungs. Nonetheless, these dwindling spaces are precious and should be protected from commodification and the modern disease of constant, organised fun. Not every form of leisure requires a lanyard and a burrito. | People are also mugged and assaulted in parks, women harassed and raped as they run, drugs taken. It doesn’t do to be too utopian when there’s still dog shit and needles on the ground and pollution choking our lungs. Nonetheless, these dwindling spaces are precious and should be protected from commodification and the modern disease of constant, organised fun. Not every form of leisure requires a lanyard and a burrito. |
| • Alex Clark writes for the Guardian and the Observer | • Alex Clark writes for the Guardian and the Observer |
| Parks and green spaces | Parks and green spaces |
| Opinion | Opinion |
| Festivals | Festivals |
| Local government | Local government |
| Urbanisation | Urbanisation |
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