The members of BMF Hampstead Heath would like the meeting point to be moved back to East Heath Road, due to the following reasons:
a) Security: The new site is in a very rough area. Travel to/from the site via The Tube (Tufnell Park and Kentish Town) is not pleasant at all and many members have already expressed concern about this walk. Recent stabbings in this area and at the Lido highlight have understandably started deterring members.
b) Variety of Training: Since moving, the instructors have done an excellent job in trying to vary the classes, however the tools they are working with are very limited. Blue and Red classes struggle to leave the flat grass and Green classes are more like Running Club. Variety was the main differentiator of the Heath, this has now been taken away.
c) Interference with other park users: The field nearest the lido is also used for softball and football. Fields around the running track are used by personal trainers and on weekends by families/picnic groups. This leads to interference with other park users and potential complaints against BMF. Fields around East Heath Road tend to be less used by others.
d) Social: BMF Hampstead Heath is a very friendly and social park. Social venues around the new venue are very poor or small and not as accommodating as the East Heath venues were. Without this social element, the park loses another major selling point.
e) Parking: The new car park is much smaller and even sessions with poor turnouts are filling the car park (e.g. Saturday 16th July at 9am). Without the space of the bigger car park, members will get frustrated and other park users will complain about BMF taking all the parking spaces. The car pack on East Heath Road was never full.