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Residents fight proposal to give public access to private garden squares
Katharine Barney, Evening Standard16.07.08
Residents are opposing plans to open private garden squares to the public.
Kensington and Chelsea council is consulting locals about whether they would allow access to the squares for people who do not live in the surrounding houses.
There are 100 private communal gardens in the borough, normally managed by committees and funded by an extra levy on council tax.
The gardens open to the public every June for the London Open Garden Squares Weekend, organised by the London Parks and Gardens Trust.
Kensington and Chelsea is considering various options, including increasing the number of open days, opening the gardens to schools or to more people living nearby, or encouraging wider general access. The council says the gardens can have "adverse impacts on social inclusion". It wants to increase the amount of open space.
Retired surgeon Adrian Marsden, 80, lives in Hereford Square and helps organise the June weekend, which raises money for upkeep of the gardens.
He said: "All the residents will be very strongly against opening up the squares. It's like saying, 'Come on and use my back garden.' We bought the houses with the understanding that it would be only for a certain number of residents and I'm not prepared to sacrifice that. It's our own little bit of tranquillity."
Sheila Robertson, secretary of Stanley Crescent Gardens Society in Notting Hill, said the garden would no longer be a safe haven if it was open to everyone.
She said: "It's somewhere where we feel it is safe to let our children play and we can all leave our back gardens open as we all back onto it. That's very important to us and factored into the house price. I don't see how the council could do it anyway. We own the garden, we own the freehold."
A Kensington and Chelsea spokesman said the issue was among many the council was consulting on and the plans were at a very early stage.
The consultation document says: "A key factor will be attaining permission-to gain access to the private areas. The capacity of the private areas will need to be assessed prior to access being granted to set thresholds for numbers of visitors in order for them to retain their biodiversity, amenity and visual viability."
The gardens include Edwardes Square, which has a tennis court and gardener's accommodation. Harry Potter author JK Rowling lives nearby and has right of access to the gardens.
Other famous names with homes surrounding garden squares include Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, who live in Belsize Park, artist Bridget Riley, who lives in Holland Park, and author Rachel Johnson, the Mayor's sister.
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