Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

using the same five key arrival routes. Ladbroke Grove North was more important as an exit
route in 2002 than in 2001, and this related directly to the change in the direction of the
Carnival route.
2.87 The overall pattern of crowd density appeared to have shifted slightly at Carnival 2002, with
more people located outside the carnival route in peak time than in 2001. Density on some
sections of the route and some interior areas was lower than in 2001, suggesting that the
crowd was better distributed within the area as a whole. Within the entertainment area, there
also appeared to be a shift in density towards the East, with areas such as the eastern part of
Westbourne Park Road having heavier crowding than in the previous year. This change
related to the new judging point and the crowd management controls in place around it.
There was also a higher density of people on the Kensal Road, relating to the use of this road
as a marshalling area for floats.
2.88 The new layout presented by the interim route was risk assessed in order to determine
whether it had led to improved public safety and risk reduction. The assessment found that
the new processional route layout presented a similar amount of risk as the previous circular
route in 2001 and therefore did not deliver a safer environment for the Carnival. There were
risk reductions in parts of the route but other areas either remained more or less the same or
the risks became higher. The biggest improvement could be found on the main section of the
Ladbroke Grove and most of the southern sections of the procession route. However, some of
the areas that experienced high crowd density under the previous circular route layout
remained similarly problematic under the new horseshoe route layout - Ladbroke Grove south
being a notable case in point. At the same time, the safety report found that the risks in
other areas such as Great Western Road and its intersection with Westbourne Park Road had
increased considerably.
2.89 It appears that the changes in 2002 had little effect on the main entry and exit points to the
Carnival but, at the same time, had re-distributed some of the risks inside the Carnival from
one area to another, a strong indication that the current basic design of the Carnival area may
have reached or become close to reaching saturation.
2.90 Project had been to look at the potential effects of changing the route as one aspect of the
broader work being undertaken by the Mayor’s strategic review. Whilst it was accepted that
the streets of Notting Hill were not designed for Carnivals, one cannot ignore the fact that
this is a common problem for most street events. All roads in the area would therefore be
imperfect in this sense, and consequently, the choice was not between those streets that were
not designed for Carnival and those that were. The Carnival Public Safety Project assessment
evaluated which of the routes put forward by the Stakeholders offered the best options for
public safety within the constraints identified and this had been a key criterion in the
assessment. The Review Group determined that evaluating the potential of the proposed
routes for the longer-term safety of the public at the Notting Hill Carnival was exactly the
purpose of the Carnival Public Safety Project. Not only did the Project’s findings conclude
that, on balance, the Horseshoe route was unlikely to deliver any gains in safety, it also
expressed concerns about the new risks presented by the Horseshoe, with the
recommendation that this particular route should not be implemented from the perspective of
crowd safety.
109