§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Royal Parks Agency is planning to secure estimates of the costs, in money and in other terms, to (a) Londoners and (b) local residents, of their plan to close the North Carriage Drive of Hyde Park during three months this summer, including particularly the costs of any environmental and social degradation involved; and, if not, whether the Government will now instruct them to do so. [HL1464]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyResponsibility for the subject of this Question has been delegated to the Royal Parks Agency under its Chief Executive, Mr. David Welch. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Kennet from the Head of Policy of the Royal Parks Agency, Viviane Robertson, dated 18 March 1999.
In the absence of the Chief Executive, Mr. David Welch, I have been asked by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the proposed closure of North Carriage Drive, Hyde Park, during the summer.
As I explained in my reply of 8 February to your previous Parliamentary Question on this subject, we have not yet made a decision as to when we will need to close North Carriage Drive this summer. This will depend on the periods required to set up and dismantle the concert sites, but we will ensure that the closures are for the shortest time possible. By allowing contractors to park on North Carriage Drive we seek to minimise the flow of contractors' vehicles outside the park and to stop them from parking in neighbouring streets.
We do not believe it would be feasible to obtain estimates of the costs to Londoners and to local residents of any closure of North Carriage Drive that may be necessary. Previous traffic studies indicate that the closure of the road does not have a significant impact on traffic flows in the area. However, we plan to carry out a more detailed traffic study while the road is closed in the summer to verify what the impact is.