‘The cars present are only there to transport the large kite equipment’

• THANK you for publishing Mike George’s letter because it gives me the chance to correct its many misconceptions and errors, (Watch out, cars about on Hampstead Heath, July 6).

The Heath and Hampstead Society, not the City, promotes the Kite Day, an event begun to mark the sesquicentenary of the 1871 Hampstead Heath Act, and continued owing to its popularity with thousands of visitors.

The City’s expert rangers and ecologists are acutely aware of the Heath’s biodiverse ecology, and the event would, of course, not be staged if it damaged the Heath in any way.

The event is free, funded by the society, and is nothing to do with making the Heath a “paying concern”. It takes place once a year on a site representing about 1 per cent of Heath land and lasts five hours. The cars present are only there to transport the large kite equipment.

Mr George’s anxiety at planned Ferris wheels and car parks is alarmist fantasy. Can I suggest on the next Kite Day he visits the other 99 per cent of the Heath?

MARC HUTCHINSON
Chair, The Heath & Hampstead Society