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Camden News - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 12 February 2009

Suggs (left) joined the No Road protest on Saturday

‘Trunks, not trucks, for our Heath!’

As row over controversial road deepens, campaigners complain they weren’t consulted

MADNESS frontman Suggs joined swimmers from the Parliament Hill Lido and members of a “No Road” campaign on Saturday to help build support against a plan to drive a new vehicle-only access route onto Hampstead Heath.
But the high profile campaign to stop the road – which would run from Gordon House Road to the Parliament Hill staff yard – has split neighbourhoods close to the Heath, with some residents backing the scheme.
As the see-saw row deepened, Heath managers re-issued a warning that objections to the scheme could derail plans to improve all of Parliament Hill.
So far a petition has gathered more than 2,000 signatures including TV presenter Michael Palin, director Ken Loach and biographer Andrew Morton.
The City of London, who run the Heath, has hit back after being accused of betraying the area’s rural feel – and warned that a multi-million pound package to be funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund could be scuppered if protesters get their way.
Jeremy Wright, a member of the Heath’s consultative committee which represents the views of Heath users to the City – said he fears the campaign could jeopardise plans to landscape the entrance along Highgate Road, demolish the cafe by the tennis courts, open up the cricket pitch and renovate the pavilion at the running track.
Mr Wright said: “Far from ‘Urbanising the Heath’, the Heath’s lottery bid proposals are to make the Parliament Hill area more rural, plus a package of other proposals to improve the area and facilities. All this will be lost if the lottery bid is prejudiced.
“I am sure that objectors do not intend this, but this could easily happen.”
Heath chairman Bob Hall said: “If the ever more-visited Hampstead Heath is to remain a great place to visit, there have to be some changes to help it cope with the pressures of the urban citizenry that surround it.”
But Ros Bayley of the No Road campaign – which is backed by people living in Gospel Oak – said the City of London had failed to consult them properly.
She said: “We are campaigning against the road and nothing else. We can see there are good things in the bid but we feel we simply have to resist the road because this is wrong for the Parliament Hill triangle. The fact is we were not properly consulted before the bid went in. We met the people from the Heath just four days before the bid was due.
“We told them how strongly we felt about this and we wanted them to put a caveat saying the road should not go ahead. Instead we got the feeling they were not taking our concerns seriously.”

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