Operator Royal Parks has announced that the popular open space will be closed from 10pm until 6am on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from this evening (April 11) until October.
Primrose Hill will remain open 24 hours a day on weekdays unless closures are needed for health and safety reasons or due to extreme weather conditions.
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Work to install gates to prevent antisocial behaviour began on March 24.
The “unsightly” fencing which has been used in recent years to support closures and regularly pulled down, has now gone.
The decision will not please everyone. An engagement survey carried out by The Royal Parks at the end of 2022 showed a mixed response from park users about plans to lock the park overnight.
Around 46% of 1,257 respondents said the park should either never be shut or should only be closed for operational reasons, such as during extreme weather or events such as Halloween.
The remainder supported some form of night-time closures, either seven days a week or only at weekends.
The decision to permanently install gates rose again in January 2024 after schoolboy Harry Pitman was stabbed to death in the park on New Year’s Eve.
Darren Share, director of parks at The Royal Parks, said: “We have completed works to install gates on Primrose Hill, to support park closures when necessary.
“The new gates are in keeping with the Grade II-listed landscape and with other similar gates we have across our parks and have replaced the use of the unsightly and costly temporary Heras fencing which has been used in recent years to support closures and which was prone to damage.
“Installation of gates does not mean that the park will be closed more often. We are maintaining the current 24-hour weekday opening arrangements and we are continuing with weekend summer closures as we have done for the past four years.”
