London's New Year's Eve fireworks to be ticketed - £10 each

[ViperDave]

hornet said:

KareemK said:

Those worried about the crowds (I'm not): Why not just cordone off an area and allow the first 100,000 in before closing that section off?

Why the charge?

How do you stop people trying to get in once your free area is full? More importantly, how do you stop those not already at said area from trying to get to it? Free access would be a crowd control nightmare, as you'd end up with surges caused by false information, and that has the potential to end very badly. Far better to limit the people in the area to start with. In that respect, I'd wager the £10 charge is as much designed to discourage visitors as anything else. Sending out the message that you're unlikely to get a good view unless you buy a ticket is likely to stop quite a few people heading into town, which all help with policing, crowd control and managing the transport network. People seem to want to use this as a stick to hit Boris with, but given the concerns of TfL and the police, I don't think it's an unreasonable approach.

Its what they were doing in 2012/13, there was a main fence along Victoria, then various sub gates the closer you got, by the time we got there embankment and Westminster bridge were sealed off and we headed down whitehall, through several sub gates, when we got to downing st, there was quite a good view through the building, but not ideal, so it was a decision of carry on and maybe get somewhere else better but maybe see nothing or take the 3rd row view through the buildings. It didn't take long for whitehall to fill in behind us and them to close the gate, other people near us were on the phone to friends who couldn't get into that section. Anybody after us coming from Victoria direction would likely have been back in parliament sq, i don't know if they closed the main gate on Victoria but according to the info on the web at the time, it would have been if all areas were full.

[Qwert1e]

'elf n safety innit.

It's not obvious to me whether Boris has power to,

• Close a public road, and then
• Charge people to access that same public road.

[boyse7en]

The local fireworks at the Rugby Club here are £10 to get in, and they aren't quite as good as the London ones either...

It's Rip Off Britain I tells ya!



On the plus side a pint is only £2.20

[ViperDave]

Qwert1e said:

'elf n safety innit.

It's not obvious to me whether Boris has power to,

• Close a public road, and then
• Charge people to access that same public road.

Public facilities are closed all the time for events that charge a fee to attend, its nothing new, do you seriously think if they hold a London GP it will be free for all, camp out as early as you can job. They charge entry to the paddock for the Brighton speed trials, how is this any different

[Qwert1e]

ViperDave said:

Public facilities are closed all the time for events that charge a fee to attend, its nothing new, do you seriously think if they hold a London GP it will be free for all, camp out as early as you can job. They charge entry to the paddock for the Brighton speed trials, how is this any different

Read what I wrote.

When have you seen people charged to stand on a public road/pavement?

[Rovinghawk]

Qwert1e said:

Read what I wrote.

When have you seen people charged to stand on a public road/pavement?

Birmingham Superprix?

[grumbledoak]

Qwert1e said:

Read what I wrote.

When have you seen people charged to stand on a public road/pavement?

Bath's foodie BITE thing. Is that still going?

[Challo]

robm3 said:

I really don't think central London is a great place to see fireworks anyhow, there's no elevation to the land so it kinda sucks.

You need a stonking great viewing area (like a harbour), something massive and symbolic to fire em' off (like a big bridge) and millions of viewspots around it all (like sloping land). A good soundtrack to go with. Plus be nice if you could do it all in 25-28 degree heat.

What you really need is a ticket to Sydney methinks:



(still the best in the world)

I did the same in 2005. Watched in the botanical gardens, sunbathed all day, then wandered into the city after the fireworks. Plenty of places to view and never felt crushed.

I think £10 is a good idea. If it means you get a bit more space, have access to toilets, place to grab a coffee or beer.

[Parsnip]

Qwert1e said:

Read what I wrote.

When have you seen people charged to stand on a public road/pavement?

Edinburgh Hogmanay?

[anonymous-user]

Parsnip said:

Qwert1e said:

Read what I wrote.

When have you seen people charged to stand on a public road/pavement?

Edinburgh Hogmanay?

£20 just for access to Princess St last time we went, was bloody good though

[KareemK]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

A fool and his money.

[anonymous-user]

KareemK said:

A fool and his money.

Piss and moan about a measly tenner?

[KareemK]

RemyMartin said:

This thread condensed down to a skim read.

I'm just glad you can read.

hornet said:

How do you stop people trying to get in once your free area is full? More importantly, how do you stop those not already at said area from trying to get to it? Free access would be a crowd control nightmare

You stop it in the same way that you stop it if its ticketed. With security, and temporary fencing etc Just like they did at the millenium display when areas got too rammed.

The addition of a charge wont change that.

Roo said:

KareemK said:

Secondly, There is no problem with how it currently operates.

Yes there is. That's why they are having to change it.

Wrong.

Per Boris: "London's New Year's Eve fireworks are phenomenally popular, not just in the capital, but across the world and we want to ensure it continues to be a safe"

The key word there is "continues". As in, its safe NOW but we can screw £10 out of 100,000 people if we try a little harder

Roo said:

KareemK said:

Breaking ribs from the crush? Get real.

Don't know. Do you?

I'm not the one making the assertions about the safety

Roo said:

KareemK said:

Like I said, you don't need to charge if crowd problems are your concern, see all of the other cities for details

Have you bothered to read peoples comments about how other cities cope?

Yes, they all seem to do it without charging their countrymen. Of course once they see London in action.

[KareemK]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Send me 4 of those measly tenners for a family to go and I'll make sure its passed on - promise.

[DJRC]

KareemK said:

Send me 4 of those measly tenners for a family to go and I'll make sure its passed on - promise.

Hold on a min. The chap gave an example of something that is v v popular that he had to pay for and said it was worth the money. Something that has a v good rep around the world. You responded that he was a fool but you think taking a cpl of kids to queue and stand around to watch some fireworks for 4-5hrs is absolutely fine??? What's more you ignore the fact that some of us have already pointed that elsewhere in the country you have to pay to watch the fireworks and they are much less than London. And yes in my last post I mentioned it was the council. I'm afraid every parent I know I'm every part of the country I've lived and worked in and in every country I live and work in would take the 10quid option over the q option every minute of every day!

Er what is wrong with watching it on TV anyway?

[Jimmyarm]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

[anonymous-user]

Jimmyarm said:

It takes a lot of the working population more than an hour to earn that 'measly' tenner, it certainly does for me in my 9-5.

Event's like this should be free and always should be, all the tt is doing is widening the divide between the haves and have nots. It is one of the few things where it doesn't matter if you have £1 or £1m in the bank, if you get there early enough and are happy to queue etc you can do it.

How long before you can book a ticket for £200 with a guaranteed speedy exit to the nearest tube ?

Minimum wage is £6.50 an hour, so not even 2 hours to earn that for even the lowest earners.

The rest of your post is too hilarious to respond to.

I'm torn, I don't know if some posters here actually believe what they are typing or are being purposely contrary, either way I'm out it's too mental.

[ViperDave]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I think I'm agreeing with you there, for most of the people there for the "free" show they have spent £25-£50 on either fuel and parking, or train fares, for the remaining few living within walking distance of Westminster, seriously!!!even the ones living south of the elephant and castle could surely forgo one cigarette a week and save up. Christ they would probably be better off paying a tenner and turning up at 11:30 for their guaranteed good spot rather than consuming 10 cups of Starbucks and 50p per piss in Charring x during their otherwise 10hour camp out for the same free spot.

[grumbledoak]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

The simple fact is that as a free-for-all it was best avoided and tickets could well be the answer. Still, the lefties seldom let facts get in the way of a good rabble rousing. Which is precisely what some of this thread feels like. Hey-ho.

[dmitsi]

Is Blackheath still free? Just send the poor people there.