Road closures in and around Warren Street for fashion show

Residents and businesses in and around Warren Street will face three days of disruption in early July due to a fashion show in the street.

Film and event company Family Ltd informed residents and businesses earlier this month with a leaflet drop announcing that a “catwalk fashion show” would be taking place.

The main event will be on Thursday 3 July but 24-hour road closures would be in place from midnight at the end of Tuesday 1 July until 8pm on Friday 4 July.

The closures will be enforced by 24-hour security and all parking will be suspended.

Warren Street will be closed to all motor and cycle traffic between Whitfield Street and Conway Street; Fitzroy Street will be closed from Fitzroy Square to Euston Road; Grafton Mews will be closed from number 17 to Warren Street; and Richardson’s Mews will be closed.

Both Conway Street and Whitfield Street will remain open and all footways in the area will not be affected by the carriageway closures.

A notice attached to a lamp-post in Warren Street states the fashion show is for Asos Ltd.

The three day event has been given approval by Camden Council and The Fitzrovia Partnership business group, according to Family Ltd who say they expect the event to have a “positive impact”.

Camden Council’s Event Service are ultimately responsible for event management and generating income from public realm activations.

In recent years Fitzrovia has been a frequent location for film and event companies who take over the streets and public spaces for movie-making, advertising and marketing stunts.

However, they frequently cause a nuisance to local people from the use of crew vehicles, and noisy and polluting power generators. Deliveries to local addresses are made more difficult due to the road closures and parking suspensions.

The Fitzrovia News asked Family Ltd for more details about what would be going on and what disruption there would be and how this would be kept to a minimum.

Julie Bland responded on behalf of Family Ltd, saying:

“We are planning on parking production vehicles and production equipment on Fitzroy Street, the side leading to Fitzroy Square. These vehicles will be parked in the existing parking bays, not in the road which we need to leave clear to allow access for emergency vehicles.

“I’m afraid we cannot provide a map since the council have requested this not to be shared due to security reasons, which I’m sure you will understand.

“Our over night security team will be considerate, they are very professional who work on large scale events all the time,” she said.

The main event will take place on the Thursday in the mid-section of Warren Street around the pedestrian and cycle zone.

In response to the use of power generators, Bland said:

“We will be using generators only during the hours of 8am to 8pm. However on 2 July this may be slightly later due to the lighting focus. These generators will only be in use when needed. Please note, the council have clearly specified the requirements of using these generators stipulating they must be stage V, silent running, low emission, fenced off and not running overnight.”

The “Stage V” designation is a new “non-road mobile machinery” emission standard that was introduced by the government in 2019 with the aim of reducing air pollution from diesel and petrol engines.

They are commonly used by film crews and events organisers, but despite what is claimed they are only silent when switched off, and they are neither green nor zero-emission as they rely on combustion. Warren Street already has poor air quality.

An application has also been made to Camden Council for a temporary licence to cover the supply of alcohol to the participants at the event and for amplified music to take place from 5.30pm to 11pm on Thursday 3 July.

“Any amplified music during the live event will be between guest arrivals at 6.15pm and when the event finishes at 7.30pm,” explained Bland.

With regard to any disruption to local businesses in the cordoned off area, Bland said:

“The cafes, restaurants and businesses will remain open for the whole time we are on-site and during the show. We hope to allow the cafes [to] have table and chair areas operational on 2 July. On 3 July this will be reduced since we will be laying out the seating for the event.”

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