Louise Aiken in her boutique: ‘I think if you have a shop in Notting Hill you should expect the carnival’ [Adrian Zorzut, LDRS]

COULD the capital’s biggest outdoor party soon become a thing of the past?

One independent business owner fears the wave of new “corporate” shops moving in are “sterilising” Notting Hill’s character – putting the carnival at threat.

Louise Aiken runs boutique dress shop Sub Couture with her husband in Kensington Park Road.

She said: “Carnival is a very important part of Notting Hill. It does make trade difficult but I think if you have a shop in Notting Hill, you should expect the carnival. This is what makes Notting Hill.

“The problem is so many corporate shops have moved in that don’t want it…They’re sterilising it. Carnival is about music and celebrating.”

Ms Aiken accepted there are “a few problems” like overcrowding, piles of rubbish and almost impenetrable graffiti, not to mention the alleged lack of clean toilets, but that’s part of living and doing business in Notting Hill.”

She added: “There has always been graffiti and rubbish but that’s part and parcel of being in Notting Hill. There is no point moaning about it.”

Ms Aiken said the event could be managed better if sound systems were more spread out and if party-goers had to buy tickets. She also thinks people wouldn’t mind paying for clean toilets.

Mark Harris: ‘Carnival just means broken glass and chicken bones’

She is a massive supporter of carnival even if, as she claims, she loses around £14k in trade over August, partly because of having to shut shop, but mostly because her customers have fled the carnival.

“Notting Hill brings communities together. The Caribbean and Irish people were dumped here,” she said. It’s “where they were shoved” when the government didn’t want them.

“You can’t get rid of that. And if people complain about it, well then, don’t live in Notting Hill.”

But not every resident is chuffed about the weekend of partying.

Jamie, 30, lived inside the carnival’s perimeter until last year. He said the festival has become a lot bigger than it used to be.

He said: “The thing that does it for me is the drugs because they’re everywhere. For the next two weeks, you notice things ramp up and then it all goes away.”

Mark Harris, 59, escapes Notting Hill for Kent or Oxfordshire every year. He said: “For me, carnival just means broken glass and chicken bones. That’s all that’s left over.

“I have come back one year and had my car vandalised. Someone ran their key along it. People use your car as a toilet.”

He also claimed residents are also worried about the threat of violence and revellers getting hurt.

Geoff Davis, 71, who has lived in Notting Hill for 30 years, said he escapes to Wales every year to avoid the hustle and bustle of the carnival.

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The council tenant said: “I don’t find any joy thinking another one is coming.”

Jess Perring, 25, a florist at The Flowered Corner on the junction of Ladbroke Grove and Lancaster Road, said the business had had to foot the bill for repairing a section of the roof after revellers climbed up and stomped on it last year.

She said shops had to pay for their own barricades and faced a loss of income because of having to close up, and added: “We close on the 20th because a lot of local people go away so we have no one to serve.

“It is not the carnival we don’t like. It is the run-up and knowing if we are shutting or if we’re not. It’s a good community activity, although it always gets out of hand.”

Kensington & Chelsea council said it granted 230 street trading licences and 38 licences for sound systems to accompany what they said in July was expected to be 100 live stage acts this year.

Westminster city councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, cabinet member for city management and air quality, said: “With millions of visitors attending each year, the council undertakes a huge operation to keep the streets clean during and after the event.

“In 2022 Westminster deployed more than 170 workers and 60 vehicles to clean up around 200 tonnes of waste.”