Chester Gate in Regent’s Park

• THERE are few areas in Regent’s Park where dogs and bicycles are prohibited, namely the gardens such as The Rose Garden and Chester Gate and Regent’s Park entrance whose areas are wonderfully tended by the gardeners but are easy prey for dogs owners and cyclists.

Chester Gate and Regent’s Park entrances have seen a massive influx of dogs and bicycles. Signs are ignored and it’s down to the public or the gardeners to approach the perpetrators – mostly Santander bikes and even motorised scooters now!

The situation has been exacerbated by the placement of generic signs since lockdown which state that dogs should be kept on leads. This adds confusion and the “No dogs – only guide dogs” signs are simply overlooked.

“No cycling” signs are also ignored. Where have the large signs gone, plenty of them were defaced or knocked down?

Dog owners and cyclists already have use the vast majority of the park and could those who are guilty please leave small families to picnic in peace in the gardens without having to worry about loose dogs and fast cycles?

My husband, who is in his 70s, was knocked off his feet by a large loose dog which was part of a large group taken out by a dog walker. This was in the winter near the park’s open air theatre, over the bridge.

I still have photos of his muddied clothes. It was poorly handled by park management. I had been promised a call from the police, which never transpired.

So I wonder how many anxious others need to seek the refuge of the quieter garden areas which should be free from such chaos and should be monitored by the park management.

There should be no more than three dogs to one dog walker. Currently I think it is about eight, which is ridiculous!

On Monday June 1 I witnessed a family of five who had brought a music stereo sound system into Chester Gate garden. The children were all under 10 years and were playing happily, with the music playing at a moderate level.

But as this is not within the rules of the park and someone had reported this to the police. They were asked to move on and did so without problem. They were a black family and I wondered what message these children received from this situation, especially given the current climate.

Although I do agree the police needed to do their job and you can’t regularly have large stereo systems in the park, there are hundreds of people each day abusing the signs at entrances concerning dogs and bikes.

What is needed is clarity and consistency – 50 to 100 dog owners a day and 200 to 300 cyclists contravening the regulations cannot be managed by the public.

It was sad to see that after watching the behaviour of irresponsible dog owners and cyclists over the past couple of years it was only one family playing music who were reprimanded because they could not make such an easy escape.

Please, park management, open your eyes and take control and let us witness some consistency in law enforcement and on-the-spot fines.

SUZANNE BANKS,
NW1