Overview
- Gates to the Camden viewpoint are locked from 8pm on December 30 until 6am on January 1, with solid hoarding, temporary fencing and security in place to stop access.
- The Metropolitan Police say the shutdown is a Royal Parks decision and insist it is not tied to the disbanding of the parks policing unit, noting those officers were 15 of 145 on duty there last year.
- Royal Parks says its ability to manage very large, un-ticketed gatherings would be severely diminished this year and has urged those without fireworks tickets to make other plans.
- Residents and volunteer groups condemned the barriers as unprecedented and “grotesque,” arguing a long-standing free vantage point has been unnecessarily taken away.
- Safety concerns follow the 2023 New Year’s Eve stabbing death of 16-year-old Harry Pitman on the hill, whose killer, Areece Lloyd-Hall, was jailed in November; other London parks also have early closures or restrictions for the night.