Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

The Chair Route: the location of the Chair route
option would take the Carnival procession down the
whole length of Ladbroke Grove and then turn
eastwards along the Bayswater Road, with the
judging point inside Hyde Park. The flow of the
procession for the Chair that we were asked to assess
in this report was from West to East, ending at the
park. As with the other more linear routes, the Chair
option would only work when combined with the
implementation of a back-to-base transport system
for carnivalists. This is a question of resources and
logistics, but it must be resolved to avoid introducing
new safety problems.
Assessing the Alternatives: Compliance with Design Guidance
2.72 There were variations in the compliance of each short-listed route when compared against the
Carnival Route Design Guidelines. The Project found that the Horseshoe and Merging
Horseshoe routes were the least compliant, whilst the Chair was most compliant with the
design safety criteria. These differences are summarized below:
Table 9: Summary of the alternative routes’ compliance with design guidance
DESIGN GUIDANCE HORSESHOE MERGING
HORSESHOE
WEST-EAST ELL EAST-WEST ELL REVERSE PARK CHAIR
DG1: Remove enclosure by route No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
DG2: Avoid pinch points No No No No No No
DG3: Spread out entry and exit No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
points to encourage better crowd
distribution
DG4: Minimise need for vehicles to No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
cross route
DG5: Choose permeable streets for No Ambiguous Yes Yes Yes Yes
entry and exit routes
DG6: Minimise turns No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
DG7: Move judging point to quieter
street or more space
DG9: Put float entry and exit points
away from crowded areas on route.
No Yes No if five-ways
No Ambiguous Yes
Yes if Bishops Bridge
No No Ambiguous Ambiguous Ambiguous Ambiguous
2.73 Computer modelling revealed that the alternative routes differed significantly in the extent to
which the crowd arrival and departure flows from the entertainment area would be forced to
cross the route. The Merging Horseshoe and Horseshoe had little effect in terms of opening
up the entertainment area. The “Ell” routes and the Reverse Park options opened up the
Carnival area to by 22 per cent. The Chair route provided the least enclosure, with 44 to 46
percent of arrival flows having direct access to the entertainment area.
2.74 In terms of sheer overall capacity, the computer modelling indicated that the length of the
route was a significant issue since a reduction in route length reduced the overall amount of
space for spectators, the general effect being an increase in crowd density. The Horseshoe
and East West Ell routes both showed poor levels of average and maximum crowding than the
circular route and this result was strongly influenced by the short length of both routes. The
Reverse Park and the West East Ell showed a lower average and maximum crowding than the
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