Highgate Village Green Preservation Society
“common ground for common good”
HVGPS was set up by Helen and Lucy in 2024 to ensure the quality of our living environment; protecting what matters to us through preservation or change.
We are investigators and fact-finder and we we are driven by mutual concern and individual curiosity.
Our campaigns are local; circumstantial and situational.
We research, survey, and consult others to ensure we are fact-based not opinion-led.
We aim to create a shared ground and break down barriers to democratic process.
We actively drive change that has a positive impact on our green and grey environments.
We value local societies, and voluntary organisations, and the work that they do.
We will always seek to bring communities together through activism, not cause division.
We believe in transparency, evidence based information, and expertise.
hvgps@outlook.com. www.highgatehq.co.uk
18 May 2025
Dear Supporters
The Ban BBQs in Waterlow Park petition has been submitted to Camden Council and will be presented to the Environment and Culture Committee mid July [this is the date of the next committee meeting; exact date tbc].
This committee will not make a decision - they will review the submission and make a recommendation to Camden Council.
As we still don't know (1) how long the current temporary BBQ Ban is in place for and (2) if Camden Council propose to change their BBQ policy to make the ban permanent, we are leaving the petition open and encouraging people to continue to sign to support a permanent ban.
If you see anyone BBQing in the park, please tell a park warden [if available] and report to Camden Council on 0207 974 4444. You may need to leave a message.
Best wishes
Helen
29 APRIL UPDATE
Dear Supporters
Thank you all for signing the petition; the petition has been submitted to Camden Council, however, it is still open for others to add their signature so please keep encouraging people to sign up!
I have not yet heard from Camden what the 'next steps' are regarding the petition request, or time frame for when a decision on BBQs may be reached.
I will keep you posted!
Best wishes
Helen
16 APRIL UPDATE
Dear Petitioners
We are sure that, like us, you have enjoyed the return of normality to Waterlow Park - a peaceful environment, birdsong and fresh air! Ah the beauty of simple pleasures!
We are actively pushing for Camden Council to make the current BBQ ban permanent and have sent the letter below to the LBC manager of park services.
If we do not get assurance of a permanent charcoal barbecue ban we will consider presenting the petition to Camden Council and ask for it to be considered by a committee.
So thank you for your ongoing support and please encourage as many as possible to continue to sign the petition!
With best wishes
Helen and Lucy
From: Highgate Village Green Preservation Society
To:Gabi Howard, Park Services Manager, LBC
Cc:Lorna Russell (Cllr);Camron Aref-Adib (Cllr);Anna Wright (Cllr)
Tue 15/04/2025 14:25
Dear Gabi
With regard to Camden’s decision to no longer allow barbecues in Waterlow Park, you mention party-goers and the disruption they have caused, however we would like to draw your attention to the focus of our petition which is pollution and place. The petition is still gaining support and is close to having 1,000 signatories.
Park users and local residents would like to know:
1. When will a total and permanent ban of charcoal barbecues come into effect?
2. How has Camden Council rationalised their support of barbecues when it so clearly contradicts their own Clean Air initiatives?
3. Why has Camden sought to allow barbecues in their Open Green Spaces despite knowing the risk of pollution and subsequent environmental damage and why does their charcoal barbecue policy stand in such stark contrast to every other London Borough?
We appreciate your concern for the two in five without a garden - however park users are asking if this includes the likes of Miss Dee who can no longer gain respite in the park, or local residents who have to close their windows during the summer due to the smoke*, and does it include the visitors to family graves whose upset that their peace has been disturbed has been conveyed to you directly by Highgate Cemetery.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards
Helen and Lucy
References
https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/waterlow-park-is-not-a-place-for-barbecues
https://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/the-many-barbecues-in-waterlow-park-have-changed-the-atmosphere-and-are-damaging-to-health
10 April 2025 UPDATE
PARTIAL SUCCESS!!!!
Thank you to all who have signed the petition.
Camden have today announced a 'halt' to barbecues in Waterlow Park, which is excellent and we are pleased they have heeded public opinion, however, as you will see from the official Camden letter below, they have resisted a permanent total ban. We are therefore asking people to continue to sign the petititon until we get assurance from Camden that a permanent barbecue ban will be put in place.
10 April 2025
OFFICIAL LETTER FROM CAMDEN PARK SERVICES MANAGER:
From: Gabi Howard <Gabi.Howard@camden.gov.uk>
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2025 at 09:21
Subject: Waterlow Park and BBQs
To: tag@waterlowparktrust.org.uk <tag@waterlowparktrust.org.uk>
Dear TAG,
Please find below, an updated position about BBQs at Waterlow Park. Camden’s parks are vital spaces for our residents. Two out of five of our residents do not have access to a garden at their home and our parks offer beautiful spaces to relax, socialise and exercise. We want everyone to enjoy themselves and this means we will keep our policy of allowing barbecues in our parks in the summer under regular review. We will not be allowing barbecues in Waterlow Park, which has seen large BBQ parties that have disturbed other users of the park. During the coming weeks, we will be keeping other parks under review. From today, we will be updating our website, putting up NO BBQ banners at Waterlow Park and requesting a security patrol for the weekend. We will also liaise with colleagues and staff to update them. We might need to be prepared for it to take a little while for the messaging to change behaviour. We will be taking a communications led approach. I will ask security, if they encounter BBQs in the park, to ask people to extinguish and dispose of them as soon as possible, and not to return to the park to BBQ in the future. We will keep the BBQ bins operational and serviced for a couple of weeks while we go through this process.
Kind regards
Gabi Howard
Park Services Manager
Recreation Services
Supporting Communities
London Borough of Camden
06 April 2025: HVGPS has sent the following letter to Gabi Howard, the Park Services Manager at Camden Council, requesting the banning of charcoal barbecues in Waterlow Park
To: Gabi Howard, Park Services Manager at London Borough of Camden
Date: 06 April 2025
Dear Gabi
As residents of Highgate we appreciate the high standard to which Waterlow Park is typically maintained by Camden Council, the various subcontractors and by Friends of Waterlow Park especially the volunteer gardening group.
However we have been dismayed recently by the alarming number of charcoal barbecues being used in Waterlow Park and we ask you to introduce a total ban on them.
As you know charcoal combustion releases particulate matter alongside other pollutants like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and PAHs which, even at low concentrations, can adversely impact human health and the environment. (1)(2b)(4)
The issue can be likened to cigarette smoking which is banned in public and work places where it is considered others in proximity can be negatively affected. While smokers themselves may derive enjoyment, the passive smokers in the immediate area are also exposed to toxins. The ‘passive smoking’ from burning charcoal is no different and the barbecues in the park are not just detrimental to the health of the children playing in the adjacent play areas, but to the many local residents who, during summer, feel they have no choice but to avoid the park and also feel forced to keep their windows closed because of the barbecue smoke from Waterlow Park. This is a particular problem for asthmatics who report that barbecue smoke aggravates their condition and is in direct conflict with Camden policy. (2a)
Smoke pollution doesn’t stop when the barbecuers leave - during the last week ash bins have been smoking like chimneys overnight and through into the next day and on one occasion a large log campfire [on the grass] smouldered into the following day.
In addition to the smoke pollution, the flora is affected: the grass is scorched in multiple areas and this takes a minimum of a year to recover; smoke also adversely affects the trees by clogging leaf stomata and preventing respiration, disrupting photosynthesis, and degrading the leaf surfaces, thereby impacting negatively on the general health of trees.
Smoke inhalation can and does kill birds. It impairs their ability to breathe and that in turn impairs their ability to forage and sustain themselves; it also impairs their ability to vocalise which is vital for their self protection and reproduction.
Taking a global perspective, the demand for charcoal is causing deforestation. Nearly 60 percent of the world’s charcoal is produced in Africa, followed by the Americas (mainly in South America) and Asia. Traditional charcoal is produced by cutting down trees and burning them in kilns. In addition to accelerating biodiversity loss, the charcoal industry releases planet-warming greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Camden is the only London Borough supporting use of charcoal barbecues in their open spaces - all other boroughs have banned them on the grounds of having a negative impact on human health and the environment.
In summary we ask you to enact your own policies and follow required legislation regarding human health and protection of the environment and to this end we call on Camden Council to introduce a total ban on charcoal barbecues. (2a)(3)
We have set up a petition to this effect which can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/ban-bbqs-in-waterlow-park?source_location=search
Yours sincerely
Helen Rapley and Lucy Tauber
Highgate Village Green Preservation Society [HVGPS]
(1) With regard to human health, more information on the hazards of smoke pollutants can be found in a document on your own website at this link [pp 24 & 25]: 👉 Camden Clean Air Action Plan 2023–2026 (PDF);
(2) The executive summary of the Camden Clean Air Action Plan 2023–2026 states :
(2a) “So it is in everyone’s interest to work together to improve air quality and to realise Camden’s vision for a borough with clean air, where nobody experiences poor health as a result of the air they breathe.”
(2b) And “we need to go beyond our statutory requirements if we are to realise the vision above because air pollution can still damage our health even at very low concentrations.”
(3) With regard to protection of the Environment, the Camden Clean Air Action Plan states: “Local authorities have a legal duty to measure and improve air quality in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act 1995.” The text of this Act Chapter 1A, para 5: opens with the words: “General functions with respect to pollution control: [F1An appropriate agency's] pollution control powers shall be exercisable for the purpose of preventing or minimising, or remedying or mitigating the effects of, pollution of the environment.“
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/25/section/5
(4) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of persistent organic pollutants; they can be found in air, water, soil, and dust. They can contaminate food through environmental exposure or during food processing, especially when using high temperatures (e.g., grilling, smoking, roasting). Some are know to be carcinogenic [cancer causing]; additionally they can be associated with lung and heart disease.