Carnival planners hail new route

Organisers hope the new route will ease crowd congestion

Organisers of the Notting Hill carnival have welcomed police agreement to a route change for the west London festival.

The parade route for the event will now be extended to Hyde Park in central London.

Chair of Notting Hill Carnival Limited (NHCL) Chris Mullard said the festival had "outgrown its present site".

Organisers hope the change will relieve crowd pressure on the streets of Notting Hill.

Three possible routes from Hyde Park to Notting Hill are under consideration but the final decision will not be taken until early in 2005.

However, a spokeswoman for the London Mayor's office, which organised the review of the route, said the new arrangements would definitely take effect from next year's event.

Costume bands and floats would be judged in Hyde Park during the early afternoon before the parade moves on to Notting Hill via one of the proposed routes, she said.

'Historical links'

Prof Mullard said the route change was just the first step in transforming the carnival.

"This will be the first of many changes aimed at making the Carnival the leading artistic and celebratory street festival in Europe," he said.

The carnival has been a west London fixture for 40 years

Police agreement to the extended route follows the publication of a report in May by the Carnival Review Group.

The group's 18-month-long review looked at ways to boost safety at the 40-year-old festival which takes places over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Chair of the review group Lee Jasper said police agreement to the new route would help ensure the event's future.

"The extension to the Carnival route is to be welcomed as it will not only improve public safety, but will also allow Carnival to fulfil its economic, artistic and cultural potential without losing its historical links to Notting Hill," he said.

The Carnival Review Group's report contained 27 recommendations which set out the framework for the festival's future development.

The review process brought together the police, carnival participants, community organisations, local authorities and local residents to investigate a range of issues including public safety, management, funding and the route.