PARK FEST

 Surprising news that a topic of interest and concern has not yet reached the editorial desk of the local press.  Yet it has featured on the front page of this title's website and reached the in-boxes of all members of the Clarence Park Residents' Association and the Protect Clarence Park campaign group.

An events license application has been made by St Albans City Football Club for entertainment and music events at Clarence Park; twenty is the number quoted.

While it is not for this blog to take a comprehensive view on such an application, there are a few so-far unanswered questions which we should ask.

We are assuming that the boundary for the application is identical to the boundary of the football ground.  We are also assuming that the 4,999 person limit for each event has already been calculated as being the insurance capacity of the ground – and would that include allow attendees to stand or sit on the pitch, or does this area have to be kept free for escape routes, stages, or to keep the grass in good playing condition?  We note that the Club announces its match day capacity at 5,000.

Has a travel plan been published to model how up to 5,000 attendees would/could reach the ground and return to their homes; if necessary the provision of park-and-ride facilities in a number of out of town locations?

Has an agreement been reached with the emergency services for the control of crowds, emergency evacuation and a medical aid centre?

Have the organisers discussed with the police the likelihood of congestion prevention measures at or near the many junctions within a one mile radius of the event site?

Have discussions taken place, and agreements reached, about how residents will be able to leave and re-enter their own homes in the periods before, during and after each event?

Where will portable toilets be located: in the football area, along footpaths, or other areas of the park?  Will the events effectively preclude other areas of the park from being used for their own events on the same days, or individuals or families from enjoying the park's facilities?

Will the parking restrictions for the event need to be extended to the days before and after each event for the get-in and get-out procedures, and if so, what arrangements would be made for residents relying on street parking outside their homes?

One other item of information not included, so far as we can identify, is whether the events, presumably taking place in the short summer non-football season, are intended to last for one season only.  This omission suggests the option is left open for the event proposal to become regular over two or more years.

Is it intended that these events would begin in 2023?  And what would the ticketing arrangements be?

A further arrangement which might be modelled: are 5,000 individual spectators movements and behaviours follow a similar pattern at a typical match event as they might at an all-day entertainment and music event?

Finally, did the Club organisers consider the possibility of holding the events elsewhere than at Clarence Park? 

So many questions, but if  a project plan exists to answer them perhaps the Club could publish it and make it available  We could see obvious references to the proposal on the Club's website..

Just a thought!  If all of these points can or have been satisfied then we wish the Club well in its endeavour.  But it would be nice if nearby residents were offered an alternative event of their own by the Club.  We understand these events will essentially be fundraisers, but all fundraisers have costs, and this would be one of them.

On a historical note: the park does have a record of presenting non football events during the summer and autumn months before and after World War Two.  There were Billy Graham religious rallies, fireworks displays and Scout Organisation displays; all playing to capacity crowds, usually in the evenings.  On some occasions buses were laid on to deliver attendees to Clarence Road and to return them to the city centre at the end.