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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 22 June 2007

Katie Dawson

Football coaches stay on streets

Supporters travelling to Emirates Stadium get go-ahead to park near ground

A DECISION to allow football supporter coaches to park on residential streets around Arsenal’s Emirates stadium for another year sparked a huge row this week.
The borough’s lone Green councillor Katie Dawson called for a new park-and-ride scheme in which supporter coaches would be stopped at the M25, with fans having to make the rest of the journey to the stadium by public transport.
But the three ruling Lib Dems on the East Area committee voted – with the chairwoman having the casting vote - to allow up to 60 coaches to park in streets around the stadium and in the Sobell sports centre car park. This was despite furious opposition from the two Labour members and Cllr Dawson.
The original decision was made last year after police argued that parking coaches at a specially built underground car park at the stadium posed an “iconic” terrorist risk.
Since then residents from Drayton Park to Hornsey Street and some close to the Sobell car park have complained that coach engines are left running, creating noise and clouds of pollution.
Cllr Dawson said: “I’m afraid it comes as no surprise to me that this council has bent over backwards yet again to appease Arsenal.
“The intention, I suspect, is to ultimately make coach parking by fans a permanent fixture.”
She said she sympathised with the police view, but added: “Their case is weakened by the fact that hundreds of cars are allowed to park inside the stadium every match day. What about that risk?”
Members of the public at the meeting said that at a time when heavy traffic was being reduced in London there was no space for coaches in Islington.
Cllr Dawson called for an investigation into the setting up of a park-and-ride scheme.
She added: “I can’t see why they can’t park the coaches somewhere close to the M25 to the north of London and come in by public transport.
“Why is it always about the convenience of the fans and of Arsenal?
“Why is it never about doing the right thing for the people who have to live around the stadium?”
The Lib Dems maintain that compared with last year when there were hundreds of complaints – mainly before the parking scheme had begun – this year there were about 40 objections to the planning applications to extend coach parking.
In Hornsey Street coaches had only parked there once this year.
Lib Dem deputy leader Cllr Terry Stacy said: “It’s not been perfect, but we are ensuring drivers turn off their engines and do not congest roads.
“But if we didn’t have the planning powers to restrict these coaches the police could direct them to park anywhere they liked.”
He added that he supported park and ride in principle but it was a matter for the outer London authorities and not Islington.

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