Camden New Journal - by TOM FOOT & RICHARD OSLEY Published: 11 October 2007
Save Our Park protesters out in force this week
Pitch battle over park’s threatened meadows
Campaigners fear ‘a wonderful, ornamental place’ could fall into a sports firm’s hands
WHEN it comes to the booming five-a-side football industry, Sir Rodney Walker – one of the men who helped redevelop Wembley Stadium – is emerging as a bit of a galactico.
As chairman of Goals Soccer Centres, he recently had the pleasure of reporting soaring profits to shareholders and impressing them with predictions of a bright future.
Now, his company has its eyes on Regent’s Park and a patch of meadowland.
Goals wants to transform a woody grove to the north of the park – a public space known as the Holford House site, close to Primrose Hill – into a nine-pitch soccer centre.
With the consent of the Royal Parks Agency, five acres of meadows will be concreted over and 75 trees chopped down, to be replaced with a bar- pavilion and the new pitches.
But the plans have horrified regular visitors to the park, and calls for Westminster Council to reject a planning application – jointly submitted by Goals and the Royal Parks – grew louder this week. It is claimed by campaigners that Westminster’s planning department has never had so many letters of objection to a single application.
Sir Simon Jenkins, the respected journalist who lives nearby, said: “They are talking about a huge chunk of the park. A completely unique part of the park. A wonderful ornamental place. The application is completely mad and I cannot believe the Royal Parks are pressing ahead with it.”
Protesters braved the mud to turn out in force at the meadow for a campaign photocall yesterday (Wednesday).
Sir Rodney has not commented publicly on the Regent’s Park debate and maybe the dog- walkers and bird spotters who want to keep the meadow the way it is have yet to realise that one of the main men behind the plan is also one of the most powerful figures in British sport.
The former chairman of Leicester City football club, he has had director interests in motor sport and rugby league. He is a key figure in snooker, in charge of the world championships, and has worked on the London Marathon and the Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
He was chairman of UK Sport when he backed the Olympic bid that secured the 2012 games for London and most recently helped out on the revamp of Wembley Stadium.
By all accounts, Sir Rodney is an all-round good egg. He has done work for the NSPCC and victims of spinal injuries. But it is unclear whether he is aware of the strength of feeling aroused by the company’s blueprint for the Regent’s Park meadowland. “Goals continues to develop its strong site pipeline to provide for future centre openings,” Sir Rodney said in his recent report to shareholders. “We continue to be successful in identifying and developing high-profile sites in densely-populated areas.” His report showed that Goals netted £3.1 million in yearly profits, up 47 per cent from the previous year’s takings.
The Royal Parks Agency says a £110 million cut in government funding has forced it to woo the private sector. Its strategists say it cannot maintain the rest of the park without the income generated by the Goals plan.
Chairman Nick Biddle told a public meeting recently: “Regent’s Park was designed as a money-making scheme for the crown. It was originally a hunting ground for Henry VIII. There is commercial pressure on us and we are trying to get the balance right.”
Not every well-known face is against the idea. “I was delighted to hear about the sports development plans for Regent’s Park,” said Lord Coe, in a letter to the Royal Parks when the plans were first announced. “We hope that bringing the Olympic and Paralympic Games to London in 2012 will act as a catalyst for sporting improvements. We are therefore always pleased to hear about the development of new sports facilities.”
Part of the target site was previously used by Regent’s Park Golf and Tennis School, which despite a 100-year history there, was told earlier this year that its lease would not be renewed.
Geoffrey Robertson, the leading human rights barrister who is married to writer Kathy Lette, said: “This is an irresponsible breach of trust by those responsible for keeping Regent’s Park as a unique environmental asset for local residents. For no reason other than commercial greed, they have decided to turn this quiet meadow, with its important golf and tennis facilities, over to football supporters drinking and carousing until midnight, with all the associated noise and pollution.”
Sir Simon added: “This is basically an alcohol licence. The football is secondary. It is simply about profiting from having a drinking den they can use for weddings and corporate events.”
Both argue the Goals plan will set a precedent for other public areas in London.
The Friends of Regent’s Park, with more than 1,200 members, have pledged to chain themselves to trees and stage a sit-down protest to save the site.
Goals scaled down its initial proposal, but Friends chairman Malcolm Kafetz said: “We have examined these revised proposals and it is rather like scrubbing the decks of the Titanic. It is full of inaccuracies and we have contacted the Royal Parks about this. They have made lots of stupid assumptions. “The car park will have just 14 spaces – for staff only. Where is everyone going to park? It will cause chaos. That is aside from the damage to the environment and the noise late into the night. Of the park’s 500 acres, 100 are already devoted to football – we do not need any more. We have got some high- profile support and we are up for the fight.”
A spokeswoman for Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said: “Greater London Authority staff have raised concerns that the development’s potential impact on the ecology of the park may be contrary to the Mayor’s London Plan. These concerns are currently being discussed with Westminster Council.”
A Goals spokesman said yesterday (Wednesday) that none of the directors were available for comment but they were due to be in Regent’s Park to discuss the plans on Friday.
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