The long Spring drought broke on the evening of the first day of meteorological summer and we had 2.5cm of rain over 24 hours.
The annual hosting of the tennis queue on the Great Field of the park had even more problems this year than last, despite AELTC having agreed more extensive measures to control the crowd.
There were three significant issues that I picked up by chance, as I went into the hedgerow that runs south from the brook on the tube line boundary and below the trees around the corner from there bordering the gardens off Home Park Road, in the course of fieldwork. Neither area was fenced.
The first issue was a long queue for the
public toilets by the cafe, mostly people from the tennis queue who told me
that waiting times were 45 minutes for the AELTC facilities. This competition for the public facility deprived the public using the play areas the ready use of toilets.
The
second issue might relate to the first issue, or the third. This was
extensive, fresh defecation in the two wooded areas: at least 20 places with
recent use. This was obviously tennis queue-related, either direct use or displaced
public from the play areas.
The third issue was
new camping equipment hidden and stored neatly in the wooded areas: tents
groundsheets, etc. A count of the number of sleeping bags gave an
estimate of 15 campers. I presume that the tents were erected at night
after security patrols ceased, and on the grass nearby, and tidied away
before security visits the following morning. I suspect these were free
campers, disliking regulation, but they just might be homeless rough
sleepers. I heaped up the kit beside the play area fence and it was
cleared away promptly the same morning.
Sadly, it seems that the queue
has turned into a poorly controlled festival. I'd like to see the
queuers welcomed by being given access to shade, and information on the
values of the park, but I suspect social media will spread a story of
fun in the sun and cause recurring problems from huge crowds. Reluctantly, I think AELTC
should be denied use of the park and the tennis queue relocated to their land.
Even then we can expect recurrent problems in the park during the
fortnight from overspill. The festival vibe may not fade.
