It is true that I have not personally seen litter etc. to report this year (you
can check out "fixmystreet.com" to see that I have in the past reported litter
caused by parties in the Headington Hill Park in previous years - usually about
two or three times over the summer months each year) despite walking through
Headington Hill Park late at night quite often this summer. Clearly, however,
some people will report it via things like fixmystreet whilst others will go to
the BBC and have a story and meal made about it.
Litter aside, I'm struggling to understand who is being disturbed, though, by
these students if I am not since I am the closest resident to the park (other
than those who have purchased community assets to live in over the past couple
of years - if this is them flexing their muscles I say they should have thought
of that when they bought a property from the city council in a public place).
I can say that throughout summer the 11pm curfew has been being enforced quite
rigorously by the group leaders of students living in Clive Booth Hall, because
it is a goddam pain when they start yelling at ten to eleven that everyone
should be in their flats - this is the period of most disturbance for me, with
a door right onto the park anyway.
So, it seems to me that litter is one problem, and has been a problem for
several years during which I have reported it to park rangers (though not this
year), but that if there's any late night noise going on it is a problem for
person or persons unknown who seem to hear a noise where I don't from the edge
of the park.
ON a side note, I am frankly appalled that alcohol is not allowed in the park.
When did that happen? If some jumped up state agent with or without government
costume and badge asked me to stop having a bottle with a picnic they would get
a piece of my mind. Now that I know it is "illegal" I intend to try it out at
the earliest opportunity. With or without eighteen year olds!
The undertone of this thread has, it seems to me, been that the parks should be
locked at night but aren't because of cuts. This is arrant nonsense.
Headington HIll Park hasn't been locked for probably six years now, since the
man with two collie dogs who lived in the main lodge retired and, but for a
(very) few incidents this has not been a problem (there was much more
disturbance when it was used by the Creation Theatre IMO). If they want to
deal with a genuine nuisance in the park they should worry more about people
cycling through it.
I *have* noticed that there are fewer evenings this year where these companies
(EF is a small part of it) have hired out our bar for evening activities which,
if I were spending thousands to send kids of mine away I would not be best
pleased about. But there again, so many of them are funded by European states
whose budgets are being squeezed that I suppose we probably ought to be
grateful that they are here at all this year!
Jock
On 7 Aug 2011, at 19:48, Matthew Meeson wrote:
> Jock, perhaps youre too busy Woodpecker spotting to have noticed the
significant increase in waste (beer cans and food containers) dumped in
Headington Hill Park over the last couple of years. This is clearly due to
either teenagers or students congregating and drinking. As we are not going to
get the parks locked at night due to cutbacks, perhaps we could get some of our
PCO's out of the local cafe's and patrolling these areas in the evening.
