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Dame Joan Bakewell |
Please feel free to enjoy your park but first, a short message from our sponsors...
Dismay and outrage as council considers plan to allow sponsorship of public spaces
IT might seem a little far-fetched but one day in the near future it might be: Waterlow Park brought to you by Nike sportswear. Or “Tavistock Square sponsored by McDonald’s”.
The New Journal can reveal how the Town Hall has hatched plans to cash in on its portfolio of parks, garden squares and open spaces by seeking sponsorship deals which could see company logos added to signs and welcome boards.
Finance chiefs believe the scheme could draw in as much as £500,000 in advertising tie-ups – but cynics have already warned it will lead to clutter, as big corporate sponsors stumble over each other to get the most prominent plugs.
Other plans due to be discussed at the Town Hall next week include more freedom for parks to be hired out for exclusive use to private companies so that they can be used for glitzy functions.
Advertising on lampposts and attached to council estates undergoing refurbishment is also on the table.
The joke doing the rounds last night (Wednesday) was that the Town Hall had become “McCamden Advertising Plc”, although more serious concerns were also emerging.
Philip Nelson, the chairman of Friends of Tavistock Square and the Secretary of the Friends of Bloomsbury Square, said: “This runs contrary to the ethos of these open spaces and against what the Victorians created them for. They are spots of tranquility and to me they are sacrosanct.”
He added: “I’m all for companies doing their bit in fund-raisers if it is to help pay for a new fountain – but we don’t want somebody sponsoring a few litter bins and then suddenly it’s the ‘McDonald’s Tavistock Square’.”
Dame Joan Bakewell, who lives in Primrose Hill, said: “My heart sinks at this whole super-commercialisation of every blade of grass in the planet. I hate it.
“Why should sponsoring companies make money out of the land that belongs to ordinary people? It just means that very rich people have bigger say than most of us.”
Michael Hammerson, vice-president of the Highgate Society, said: “A contract that concedes too much to the sponsor and not enough to the public could be damaging.”
Labour councillor Theo Blackwell said: “Local people across the borough have fought for years against the encroachment of estate agents’ signs and fly-posting, but now the council wants to bring it all back. Unless this is checked, not only our streets but our public gardens could be ruined by commercial advertising for fast food chains, or worse.”
Lib Dem finance chief Councillor Ralph Scott defended the policy: “We are not going to have great big Nike signs towering over Talacre Gardens. It would be sensitively done. There are signs at the entrances to our parks and what we would be asking is, would people mind a little logo saying it was sponsored by ‘X organisation’.”
He added: “If Nike, for example, came to us and said that they could pay for some equipment in schools or our leisure facilities and in return they could use our open spaces or have a logo somewhere in a couple of parks, that is something we could explore.”
Cllr Scott said a poor settlement from government meant tight budgets. He added: “£½ million might not sound a lot in terms of Camden’s budget as a whole but it can go a long away in helping schools and youth clubs which I know the opposition value as well.”
He compared the potential hiring out of parks as like neighbouring Westminster’s willingness to allow Leicester Square to be fenced off for movie premieres.
Cllr Scott said clothing firm Ted Baker had enquired about a possible deal but negotiations ended when ward councillors railed against the idea.
He said: “If they were going to pay £10,000 for one day’s use, that’s quite a lot of money that could be used in services which people value. But we asked members what they thought and went with what they said.” |
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Your comments:
If traders have been warned about the consequences and still ignored them in this way they should be named and shamed. It's disgraceful.
Georgina Parry
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