Traffic fears as fans banned from park

From the Echo, first published Saturday 18th Oct 2003.

TRAFFIC chaos is set to hit Bournemouth on Cherries match days after lawyers said football fans must be kept out of King's Park.

Councillors have been told they have no choice but to ban supporters' traffic from using most of King's Park Drive.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Adrian Fudge, who had negotiated a delay to examine alternatives, said Bournemouth Borough Council could now have to admit defeat. "I can't find a way of getting over that problem at all at the moment. The advice we've got is quite clear," he said.

The Charity Commission had told the council it could not continue to let fans drive through the park to the Gloucester Road exit after matches. But the council had deferred any action while it looked into alternatives.

Under a 1985 act of parliament, the council is obliged to manage the park in the interests of park users - a category which does not include football fans.

Cllr Fudge, a member of the council's cabinet, said: "I'm completely at a dead end. The only option I can see now is to put a bridge over from Gloucester Road into the car park, but at what cost?"

Cherries chairman Peter Phillips said the council should seek other legal advice. "I think they've taken one piece of legal advice and that's all it is. It may not be the correct opinion and we have to challenge it," he added.

The issue was first raised with the Charity Commission by Elaine Findlay, chairman of the Friends of King's Park. She said: "I'm delighted we have been proved right, because that was one of our big issues and it has been going on for four years, on and off. It's a shame the council had to spend so much money on Queen's Counsel's opinion when we deduced it without any legal training at all."

She said that the club should draw up a "green" travel plan to encourage its supporters to use buses, trains and bicycles.

Tim Martin, head of law and administration at the council, said he had sought advice from two independent experts. "We've yet to report back to cabinet, so I'm not in a position to definitely tell you what our view is going to be, but it's not very hopeful," he said.

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