barbeques in Corporation parks

The City of London acknowledges receipt of your request.

City of London
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Aleck

Further to your request of 27 May 2009 and our acknowledgement of 28 May,
the City of London (CoL) responds as follows.

Where our activities are funded by what is called 'the City Fund' (that
is, monies derived from public taxation), they fall within the scope of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), ie the CoL as a local
authority, police authority or port health authority (in accordance with
Schedule 1, Part II, paragraph 9 of the FOIA). Where the activities are
funded by our private income ('City's Cash' and the charities for which we
are responsible), they do not fall within the scope of the FOIA. For a
further explanation of the difference between the CoL's private and public
funds please see the CoL's website at [1]www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/finance.

In response to your enquiry about barbeques in parks and open spaces
managed by the CoL, only the gardens in the City fall within the scope of
the FOIA. The CoL is the local authority for the "Square Mile" only, ie
the historic City of London and not London as a whole. Please see the
following link to a map on our website, which shows the area we cover:

[2]http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporati....

As regards the gardens and churchyards within the Square Mile, no active
decision was taken in 2008 as you have suggested to ban barbeques and no
penalties have been issued. Barbeques/outdoor fires of any kind are banned
within the Square Mile as a result of Byelaws created under the
Corporation of London (Open Spaces) Act 1878 and the Open Spaces Act 1906.
The ban also supports potential threats to security in the City and the
enjoyment of our spaces by the general public. In addition, our spaces
within the City boundary are too small to enable us to provide a separate
area for those that wish to cook outdoors.

Barbeques are generally not permitted in any of the CoL's other Open
Spaces outside the Square Mile (which are funded by charitable/private
income). However if you require more details or have a further enquiry,
please contact the Superintendent for that area. Their contact numbers can
be found on the back cover of our Open Spaces Annual Report for 2008/09,
which is now available on our web site
[3]http://217.154.230.218/NR/rdonlyres/FF1E...

If you wish to make a complaint about the way the CoL has handled your
enquiry, please make your complaint in writing to email address:
[email address]. For a link to the CoL's FOI complaints
procedure, please visit the following page:
[4]www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Feedback, at the end of which is located the
FOI complaints procedure. If, having used the CoL's FOI Complaints
Procedure, you are still dissatisfied, you may request the Information
Commissioner to investigate. Please contact: Information Commissioner,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Telephone:
(01625) 545700. Website: [5]http://www.ico.gov.uk/.

The FOIA applies to the CoL only as a local authority, police authority
and port health authority. Subject to any other statutory provisions
requiring the City of London to disclose information, release of
information outside the scope of the Act is subject to the discretion of
the City of London.

The CoL holds the copyright in this communication. Its supply does not
give a right to re-use in a way that would infringe that copyright, for
example, by making copies, publishing and issuing copies to the public or
to any other person. Brief extracts of any of the material may be
reproduced under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 (sections 29 and 30) for the purposes of research for
non-commercial purposes, private study, criticism, review and news
reporting, subject to an acknowledgement of the copyright owner.

Information Officer
City of London
Tel: 020-7332 1209
[6]www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

show quoted sections