Local authorities battle over May Day celebrations
A man is tended to on the High Street, outside the Botanic Gardens; A jumper is lifted into an ambulance by paramedics, documents reveal that the John Radcliffe Hospital was close to calling a major incident alert
The body responsible for overseeing Oxford’s May Day celebrations is deeply divided over the future of the event, particularly over whether or not Magdalen Bridge should be closed. The May Day Safety Committee, a group composed of emergency services, the university, Magdalen College, and the county and city councils, is also split on issues such as whether private security guards should be hired, and whether it is worth erecting fencing across the bridge.
The issues have become all the more pressing after this year’s May Morning celebrations saw 40 people injured after over 100 jumped from Magdalen Bridge into a river no more than 3 ft deep. Despite saturation coverage across the bridge of signs warning of particularly low water levels, as well as 6ft Herras fencing and the presence of 30 security guards, the jumpers, most of whom the committee believes to be students, were not put off.
The number of people injured, as well as the extent of their injuries, nearly forced Oxford’s hospitals to declare a Major Incident Alert. A hospital spokeswoman said: “We got injuries in here that we wouldn’t usually have had. Night shift staff had to stay on throughout the day, and we had a level of activity that we usually wouldn’t have had, even on a Bank Holiday weekend.
The fact that so many people jumped from the bridge has been put down in part to May Day falling on a Sunday morning this year. In 2006 the day will fall on Bank Holiday Monday, leaving the safety committee fearful of a repeat performance. Magdalen College, as well as the city and county councils, are worried that anyone injured in the celebrations could mount legal action against them.
On top of this, the fact that the celebrations have been running since the early 16th Century means that there is no provision in existing legislation to regulate the event. With this in mind, the committee decided on 11th May to engage the President of Trinity College, Michael Beloff QC to draw up a legal opinion on the matter. This is inaccessable under Freedom of Information legislation, as it is legally privileged.
However, the minutes obtained by this newspaper summarise the report as concluding: “No licensing of event needed, no liability beyond the normal liability of agencies to do their jobs properly, possible liability for the college because riverbed could be deemed dangerous but not certain, more signage may be solution.” At the 11th May meeting of the group, the agencies involved reported their views on May Day 2005, as well as their suggestions for the future.
Their exasperation is evident from the minutes documenting their comments. All feel they did their jobs well, but are disappointed by the attitudes of the students, as well as the student press, whom the committee believes did not do everything they could to inform others of the extremely shallow waters. Magdalen College Home Bursar, Mark Blandford-Baker, is recorded as saying: “Cherwell and Oxford [Student] paper were on side [and] agreed to participate… no messages [were] put across. Student papers briefed and failed to act. Before all onside. During gave interviews.”
A man is helped from the river by Fire and Rescue services, who attended with an inflatable tender; A girl with a badly broken ankle is lifted from the scene
Many different suggestions were put forward at this-so called ‘wash up’ meeting. The options for consideration include:
• Moving the college choir out of the tower, focusing the gathering away from the bridge.
• Dredging the river.
• Flooding the river, making it safer to jump into.
• Boarding over the river, and covering this with ‘soft materials’.
• Other fencing solutions.
• Declaring the river closed, and pursuing civil action against those who jump into it, under trespass laws.
• Suspending students who jump.
The University Marshal even made the suggestion “to remove the water through a pipe”, leaving a bare river-bed. Both this, and raising the river level were dismissed out of hand by the Environment Agency. A spokeswoman said: “Both draining the river or pumping in excess water could have a severe knock on environmental impact.
“The River Cherwell is home to a wide variety of fish and plant life, and draining it would impact on the ecology of the river, and pumping in excess water may increase flood risk in the area. Clearly neither of these are acceptable approaches. “Moreover we would never take any action that might encourage people to participate in this highly dangerous activity.
All of these suggestions look to have been thrown aside by the time the committee came togther again, on 27th September, with the big issue becoming whether or not to close Magdalen Bridge. The minutes for that meeting record that: “The Chief Constable [of Thames Valley Police] has said that jumping from the bridge is unacceptable and can’t be allowed to continue without further legal opinion. Bridge needs to be closed for the event, as it is ancillary, not fundamental, to event.
“County Council can close bridges to vehicles but not to pedestrians, as there are no structural safety issues. No politicians in the leading group will support the bridge closure. “Under Section 15 of the Highways Act the County Council can close a highway. Police can’t enforce a closure; need backing of County Council.” The committee also discussed the tactics employed by those who decided to jump from the bridge.
It is minuted that: “Someone engineered the jumpers, jumping by numbers. The ringleader changed his mind when saw how shallow water was. Ringleader was wearing a blonde wig and red cape. Students and non-students were jumping - majority were students.” It is also noted that: “The students organise themselves to jump. [They] realise that the ‘organisers’ don’t have the power to stop them.
Emma Norris, President of Oxford University Student Union, said: “Gathering on and around Magdalen Bridge on May Morning has been going on for years and years; it’s a well known and loved event by students and the wider community alike. “Of course it’s a bad idea for people to jump off the bridge, but the solution is to have effective security who can stop jumpers.
It only happens once a year so by all means be strict in terms of what people can and can’t do, but don’t shut the whole thing down.” The committee is now seeking further legal advice, and will meet again in early March, for a pre-May Day briefing.
17th Nov 2005