BBQ in Peckham Rye Park

[george74]

Has anyone tried to have a BBQ in Peckham Rye Park? If not, I wouldn't bother. I took my parents there last night for a pleasant evening in the sun with a small 'webber' BBQ that is specifically designed to use in outdoor parks etc, and we were asked by the Park Warden to put it out.

Not only does this particular BBQ not harm the grass/park etc, but the Park Warden suggested we head down to Burgess Park as they have a specific BBQ area to use......I can understand that they are looking after the park, but really? we are not likely to litter or dispose of anything that would cause damage to the facilities.

Do we not think Dulwich/Peckham Rye Park should have such an area? Or, should Southwark not just put a ban on disposable BBQ's?

with such a high percentage of people in London living in flats with no gardens, I think it a little crazy that we are not allowed to use the parks/commons for such events.

Not quite the same using your grill!!!

[Annasfield]

I was thinking about doing that. Glad I didn't bother now.

You should have offered him a sausage

[george74]

I would have, but he wouldn't even let us put food on.... caught us just as we got it fired up!!

[tallulah71]

That's a real shame....sadly I think there are more people who use the park for their BBQ's with little concern for the damage or mess they leave behind. I was walking early this morning and the mess left by people who had not BBQ'ed but eaten take-away food and drink by the enclosed picnic area around the benches was disgusting. Such a shame but a few idiots tarnish the use of our great parks for the rest of us.

[Mattsoper]

I'm pretty sure I've never seen a sign saying BBQs are not allowed on Peckham Rye Park/Common, though I have seen the wardens telling people to damp down their unauthorised hot coals. I think a BBQ area would be a good idea as I'm never pleased to see those burned patches on the grass where someone has placed their tin foil model directly on the ground. Perhaps a dedicated area would make the rules clear and give people a place to cook their food outdoors if they aren't able to do so at home - or even if they are but fancy a trip down the park instead.

[alice]

I cycled through Peckham park earlier today - loads of BBQs going in that non-dog area

[jimmyraj]

I think the point is that the vast majority of BBQ users in parks don't use Weber portable types - they use disposables, which in many cases are just left in the park as they are hot. Dogs, other wildlife, people and kids have a habit of stumbling across them. Hence there's quite understandable rules about it having BBQs unless there are specific areas for them.

[boosboss]

One of the recycled rubber picnic tables in the park has been damaged by someone placing a disposable BBQ on top of it and melting it! A dedicated area is an interesting idea!

[UncleBen]

Mattsoper Wrote:

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> I'm pretty sure I've never seen a sign saying BBQs

> are not allowed on Peckham Rye Park/Common

x x x x x x x x x x

Jeez. I've never seen a sign saying murder isn't allowed etc ad infinitum!

Shame OP poster wasn't fined. If you don't have a garden, or have friends that invite you to their bbqs then what right do you think you have to have a bbq in a public park?! Apart from the r?sk of setting fire to dry vegetation, damage to grass, smoke and smell nuisance to other park users, danger and damage to wildlife, and leaving your litter all over the place to further damage the environment why don't you just not bbq-its not mandatory. Baaah

[Jeremy]

I believe Burgess Park doesn't just have a BBQ area, it actually has permanent barbecues you can use.

[nununoolio]

Matt. There are "no bbq" signs on the noticeboards at all the park entrances and dotted around the Common.

Alice. There were only two barbeques going in the arboretum/picnic area but several more dotted around the park/common.

A dedicated barbeque area for the park would be a great idea, but only if everyone kept within it's boundary and tidied up after themselves.

[KidKruger]

Unfortunately, as usual, the few let down the majority. Leaving heat damage to park furniture, the grass/tarmac and clumsily disposing of the remnants of BBQs which burn very hot. The amount of smoke is quite profuse for such a small device, affecting many times more people than it benefits. The argument for not having a garden, therefore having the right to mess-up a park is weak.

If you want to burn one in your garden, fine, go ahead.

I think they should be banned in parks due to the mess and damage. They are unsafe when disposed of clumsily, I've seen people scratching their heads wondering what to do with their smouldering tray of red-hot ambers, choosing to just leave it there rather than burn themselves trying to contain/dispose of it. So it then becomes someone else's problem. Smart.

[Jeremy]

Theoretically I wouldn't have a problem with BBQs in parks (frankly small patches of burned grass don't really bother me). But if it results in extra litter and hot coals being left to smoulder, then clearly it's a problem.

[fl0wer]

Food tastes smokily 'different' and a kind of Inner Cave Man likes this cooking method, but until we have sorted out better ways to source the food and charcoal and packaging, barbecues are very, very costly on the planet.

I think they should be allowed, but if people set them up thoughtlessly in densely populated areas, it forces lots of us to endure a stink of smoke & burning meat which many find antisocial, especially when fresh air's at a premium in a heatwave.

From what I've seen of specially built public barbecue/outdoor cooking facilities, they soon get filthy.

If a corner of each park got set aside for 'instant' picnic ones, with very cheap and simple designated cooking slabs perhaps, it could reduce the damage done to the rest of the space. People would still need to be vigilant about the hot coals/food rubbish/vermin aspects, but treating us as if we cannot follow a straightforward safety guide is belittling.

[KidKruger]

I don't think anyone believes people cannot follow simple instructions, the problem is many people will not or do not want to. It's not about treatment, it's about attitude, of which there is plenty.

[Mattsoper]

Thanks Nununoolio. I took a walk through the park shortly after I posted on here and sure enough spotted the 'No fires or BBQs' sign on all the notice boards. Seems people either aren't aware of this rule or are ignoring it, though I would always assume that BBQs weren't allowed unless I'd heard otherwise.

[UncleBen]

KidKruger Wrote:

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> I don't think anyone believes people cannot follow

> simple instructions, the problem is many people

> will not or do not want to. It's not about

> treatment, it's about attitude, of which there is

> plenty.

Well said that Poster

[Applespider]

Public BBQ areas can get a bit grotty but as a flat-dweller (with friends who are also flat-dwellers), the chance of the odd burnt sausage would be nice. A dedicated area would be good to avoid the smoke irritating those around - although that doesn't seem to bother my neighbours whose BBQ pours smoke straight through my living room window... lovely.

The public braiis that they have in South Africa would be a great compromise - it's a metal 'table' with a cage underneath. You can bring your own braii grill to put on the table or hire one from a hut nearby - and they hire out gas canisters (which sit in the cage) and you can BBQ to your heart's content. Less mess since the cost of cleaning the grill is included in the hire (or you take yours home).

[Burbage]

KidKruger Wrote:

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> I don't think anyone believes people cannot follow

> simple instructions

Sometimes that's true, but I'm told it can vary with the brand of cider.

For those interested, if that's the word, Southwark's open space bylaws, and similar diversions for the suppression of nuisances, can be found here.

[LadyDeliah]

UncleBen, you don't need notices to let people know that murder is prohibited, fairly well publicised and everyobe ekse seems to understand this without needing a notice.

a ban on BBQs however, is not widely publicised and even the notices are barely noticeable.

I'm interested to know if there is any bylaw prohibiting the use of BBQs, or whether the park/council have been putting up notices with no legal force again, as they did with the 'keep dogs on leads' notices.

[UncleBen]

LadyD-It obviously passes many by. Am concerned that this is all you understood from this thread but by your previous history maybe I shouldn't. Anyway, can't waste time with your pettiness and obvious public park bbq law breaking. Maybe Barber should waste 3k on a bbq area rather than ping pong shite seeing as Neighbours appears to have made idiots think bbqs is a God given right, and breach of human rights if some fool can't inadequately cook a sausage/burger outdoors and give people food poisoning.

[LadyDeliah]

Petty?

Wanting to know if someone in a parkie uniform has the authority to stop someone from enjoying themselves in the park, isn't petty, in my opinion.

In the UK what isn't specifically prohibited is allowed, so why wouldn't I want to know if there was actually some form of law that gives the over-zealous park-keeper the right to tell people they can't use BBQs in the paek.

I'm just waiting for someone with more time to waste than me, to go and do my research for me :-)

[nununoolio]

Lady D

Bye laws on the back of the noticeboard by the Oval gate. And what makes you think the parkie is over zealous? He may feel a bit bad not being able to show a bit of discretion when dealing with BBQs

[chellbirdse15]

Hi Exactly the same thing happened to me and we had to put it out..... I explained to the Park warden that Peckham Rye Common is public land and therefore I was entitled to, but he said that as it was maintained by Southwark, and therefore we were not, there are a few bylaws that come into play, but its a question of getting down deep into the park and bylaws laws and finding it. I know that Boris was trying to stop it in Clapham, so maybe the same situ in Peckham Rye. There are signs at the entrances that state that we cant...so don't really know what to tell you about it.

[Whittler]

The London Fire Brigade have already attended over a 1,000 grass fires around the city this year. I'm not suggesting that all were started by careless bbq activity, but it doesn't take a lot of intelligence to put two and two together and figure out that with a heatwave such as this creating large areas of dry ground, it'd be very easy for fires to take hold quickly due to a bit of carelessness. I happen to live near a small park and in the last spell of hot weather a few years ago my neighbours and i had to call the fire brigade out on three separate occasions to fires started by discarded bbq's left by people in the park. These fires very nearly reached some beautiful large trees that form part of a very old hedge and they happened way too close to houses on the park perimeter for comfort. Why should i be left worrying that someones afternoon bbq fun might actually cause serious damage to not only our (well-used) kids play park but also our homes??!! Yes it's great to cook outdoors in the sun, but please, city parks (unless they have designated areas) are not really the place to bbq in a heatwave no matter how careful you consider yourself to be.