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Britain
英国板块
Public spaces
公共空间
Parks and recriminations
公园和指责
Youngsters take over London's fanciest parks, to the displeasure of locals
年轻人接管了伦敦最豪华的公园，这让当地人很不高兴
Hampstead heath is home to many fine creatures. Purse web spiders, green woodpeckers, brimstone butterflies and kestrels have all found peace in the oddity that is London's 790-acre moorland. They roam happily alongside a near-mythical tribe: north London's metropolitan elite. But the current chieftain, Marc Hutchinson, a solicitor and chair of the Heath & Hampstead Society, is unhappy with the heath's most recent arrivals: drunken young people.
汉普特斯西斯公园是许多美丽生灵的家园。钱包蜘蛛、绿啄木鸟、硫黄蝶和茶隼都在伦敦这片790英亩的沼泽地里找到了平静。它们和一个近乎神话般的部落——伦敦北部的都市精英们——一起快乐地漫着步。但是现任“酋长”，西斯与汉普特斯协会主席兼律师马克·哈钦森对西斯协会最近的新成员——醉醺醺的年轻人感到不满。
When covid struck last spring, open spaces across Britain were flooded with youngsters looking for somewhere to socialise. The habit has stuck, much to the annoyance of regular parkgoers. Local newspapers are filled with complaints about anti-social behaviour spoiling beauty spots. In most places, locals are powerless. Not so in London's most expensive neighbourhoods.
去年春天新冠疫情爆发时，英国各地的空地上挤满了寻找社交场所的年轻人。这个习惯就此延续了下来，让经常去公园的人很是恼火。当地报纸充斥着对破坏风景区的反社会行为的抱怨。大多数地方的当地人对此都无能为力，但在伦敦最昂贵的社区却并非如此。
Battle lines were first drawn in Primrose Hill, where residents say they were besieged by raves, fireworks, knife crime and "drug cars". Their solution was to lock the park at night. Sir Keir Starmer, Labour leader and a local MP, offered support. The Royal Parks, a charity, forked out for nine-foot aluminium gates, which locals now want to make permanent. That is not an option in Hampstead Heath, where enclosure has been banned since 1871. Instead, councillors want to cut the number of nearby alcohol licenses. Not all local firms are opposed. "Less businesses means more customers," reckons a newsagent.
战线首先在樱草花山拉开，当地居民称他们被狂欢、烟火、持刀犯罪和“毒品车”所包围。他们的解决办法是晚上给公园上锁。工党领袖兼当地议员基尔·斯塔默爵士对此表示支持。皇家公园是一家慈善机构，它出资购买了一个9英尺高的铝制大门，而当地人现在希望将其永久保留下来。在汉普特斯西斯公园这是不可能的，因为从1871年起就禁止圈地。相反，议员们希望削减附近的酒类执照数量。并不是所有的当地公司都反对。“生意越少，顾客就越多，”一家报刊经销商认为。
Oliver Cooper, the leader of the Tories on Camden council, supports the measures, arguing that party animals put off other park-goers. Mr Hutchinson now has new targets in his sights. Ancient tree roots are being damaged by an increase in visitors, he says, with numbers up from roughly 9m in 2019 to 17m in the past year. Commercial dog walkers will soon be limited by licenses, of which there will be 40, and the number of dogs they will be able to walk at once will be capped at four.
卡姆登议会保守党领袖奥利弗·库珀支持这些措施，他认为派对动物会让其他公园游客望而却步。哈钦森现在又有了新的目标。他表示，游客数量从2019年的约900万增至去年的1700万，古树的根正因游客数量的增加而受到破坏。专业遛狗人士不久将受到许可证的限制，他们一次遛的狗的数量将从40只减少至4只。
Amy McKeown, a mental-health strategist campaigning to remove the gates in Primrose Hill, says claims of unpleasant behaviour are overstated. Official data show knife-crime injuries in the area fell from 16 in 2019 to 7 in 2020. Martin Fisher, a psychotherapist who lives in the area, says an online residents' forum has become filled with accusations that party-goers are "knife-wielding yobs", "scum" and "poor people coming from undesirable areas." He argues that phrases such as "those awful people, in their awful cars, playing their awful music" are racist euphemisms. Recriminations show little sign of ending soon. "It's like Brexit," sighs Mr Fisher. "It has polarised the community."
艾米·麦基翁是一名精神健康战略家，她表示有关不愉快行为的说法言过其实，致力于拆除樱草山的大门。官方数据显示，该地区持刀犯罪受伤人数从2019年的16人降至2020年的7人。住在该地区的心理治疗师马丁·费希尔表示，一个在线居民论坛上充斥着对参加派对的人的指责，称他们都是“持刀的暴徒”、“人渣”和“来自不受欢迎地区的穷人”。他认为像“那些糟糕的人，开着糟糕的车，播放着糟糕的音乐”这样的说法是种族主义的一种委婉说法。相互指责并没有很快结束的迹象。“这就像英国脱欧。”费希尔叹息道。“导致了社区的两极分化。”
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
