(you have to pre-book and pay for)?
Over summer 2013 signs appeared on the grass areas at the bottom of Hyde Park, known as the Old Football Pitches stating that this area would soon need to be booked and paid for to use. This public green space is not in a great condition but is used frequently by many student groups including sports teams, halls of residences and other students who use it to exercise casually and for sporting teams.
They delayed charging for the space but enforced a booking system through Will to Win who also control the tennis courts in the area. This process started early in 2013 and a consultation was initiated after criticism, from September to October 2013, inviting users to fill out a questionnaire.
I encouraged Clubs & Societies, halls of residences and other students to fill this in and I hand delivered around 80 to the Royal Parks head-quarters with a covering letter which was based on a council paper accepted and backed by Union Council. This was not acknowledged at the time of delivery.
On December 19 2013 the following email was sent to some of those who submitted a consultation questionnaire about the Hyde Park Old Football Pitches:
The Royal Parks Executive Committee has provided direction on the continuing process of consultation about the future management of the Old Football Pitches at Hyde Park. After consideration of feedback from the process initiated in September 2013, the next steps are that TRP will set out its proposal for the future management of the pitches and consult with user groups and the wider public in the New Year on that proposal. Once consultation is completed an executive decision will be made by Spring 2014.
We will contact you again when we publish the next stage of our consultation process.
My covering letter was not acknowledged, nor was I contacted in a personal capacity, having filled in a questionnaire myself with personal contact details which suggests they did not contact everyone who submitted a questionnaire.
With still no response I contacted them, again highlighting I represented 16,000 plus members and was informed they would look into this for me and respond. I hope the further information from this is positive and allows us to have involvement and put pressure on the decision makers before spring.
The privatisation of public space and the potential financial burden on students and members of Imperial College Union, which is a registered charity, is not something the Union supports and will actively campaign against if necessary.
Watch this space for updates on the situation!
Yas
