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| UPDATED
EVERY FRIDAY
Last Update:
Friday 20th
May, 2005 |
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| All
content © New Journal Enterprises, 2005. |
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| Open house as free car park faces chop |
ENGLISH Heritage has defended
plans to introduce car parking charges at Kenwood House from
the summer.
The government-financed body which manages historic homes
across the country said their priority was keeping the house
itself free and charging would help manage the 50-space car
park, which was often overcrowded.
Rebecca Kane, who is in charge of visitors at the house, said
that the car park was one of the last of its kind in London
– and, with Hampstead Heath managers the Corporation
of London looking to charge car owners, English Heritage had
no choice but to follow suit.
She added: “This is one of the last free car parks in
central London so it should not come as a surprise to anyone
that we are looking at introducing charging.
“We are looking at it with the Corporation. It would
be unfair if charges were introduced in just one place but
not another – and we would be foolish and guilty of
not doing our duty if we left the car park free.”
On Friday the organisation began a three-week consultation
with car park users on plans to bring in a £1 charge
for two hours, increasing to £2 for two to four hours.
Every hour after that would cost an additional £3.
Most drivers use the car park for just under two hours, according
to English Heritage.
Ms Kane said: “At weekends and over the summer, the
number of spaces cannot cope with demand, which leads to frustration,
double parking and a potential safety risk.
“We believe that pay-and-display parking would also
benefit visitors by discouraging opportunistic parking.”
The cash will go towards keeping Kenwood House, which is home
to paintings by Gainsborough, Turner, Rembrandt, Vermeer and
Reynolds, free for visitors.
It costs English Heritage £1.3 million a year to run
the 1764 Robert Adam-designed mansion. Although concerts and
the house’s café bring in money, the conservation
body loses £800,000 a year on lthe house and gardens.
Ms Kane said: “We are constantly looking at ways of
generating income so we can keep Kenwood House free. Our management
terms state that we would be allowed to charge visitors for
two days a week but we have chosen not to. We have no plans
to change that.”
The public consultation will end on June 3, with a decision
possible by the middle of June. If the results are favourable,
the organisation is likely to implement the charges from July.
Tony Ghilchik, vice president of the Heath and Hampstead Society,
said: “We accept that with the Corporation of London
introducing charging for the Heath’s car parks, it makes
sense for Kenwood to charge. A system like this one will penalises
those people who park there but are not using the facilities.” |
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