24 Feb 2003 - 01 Jan 2004
Richmond Park Traffic - Car Park Stays Open - Gate Closes for Trial Period
Richmond Park

Richmond Park's Pen Ponds car park will stay open and Robin Hood Gate will be shut for a 12 month trial period with a review of its impact after just 3 months, The Royal Parks announced today.

Following extensive consultation with local councils, concerned organisations and residents, the Traffic In Richmond Park: The Way Forward report has set out a number of decisions that balance the needs of visitors with the sensitive ecology of the area.

The Pen Ponds car park, in the centre of a nationally important 250 acre zone of acid grassland, will be scaled down to 95 spaces, including 11 disabled park bays. This will provide enough spaces for all but a few peak days every year and will allow the restoration of adjacent grassland.

Robin Hood Gate, which has been one-way for more than 20 years, will now be closed to motor traffic in both directions. This is intended to reduce traffic throughout the whole park by 5% and should reduce traffic volumes on the eastern side of the park by considerably more than that. The gate will remain closed for a trial period of twelve months, with a review of its effects after three months. The trial is expected to run during the autumn. This should allow reasonable time for implementation and 'bedding in' of measures proposed by Wandsworth and TfL to restrict access to the Alton estate in the morning rush hour and to introduce improvements at the junction of the A3 with Roehampton Lane. Pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders will still be able to use the gate.

"We understand and are sympathetic to the concerns expressed by local residents and the adjoining Councils. That is why we have retained Pen Ponds Car Park and are closing Robin Hood Gate for a trial period. As a National Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Grade 1 Listed landscape we have a statutory duty to conserve the Park's habitats and landscape for the future," said William Weston, Chief Executive of The Royal Parks.

"English Nature and The Royal Parks have a legal duty to conserve and enhance the special interests of Richmond Park. Evidence from surveys indicates that quality of the core habitat is declining and we feel that the proposed careful management of usage will enhance the habitat," said Nick Radford, Regional Policy Officer, English Nature.

"We would like to offer our strongest support for the improvements that have been planned and would view the move as a way of further improving the ecological value of Richmond Park thus improving the area for visitors and residents alike," said Graham Turnbull, Director of The London Wildlife Trust.

Another key decision within the report was the reduction of the speed limit within Richmond Park to 20mph. This proposal was supported by a majority of respondents to the consultation and will help to protect the Park and its wildlife, as well as increasing pedestrian safety.

Other measures announced today are: improvement of bus links to the park but not through it; improvements to existing car parks through resurfacing, capacity enhancement and landscaping; improved road crossings for pedestrians; and a rejection of any form of road charging in the park for the foreseeable future.

Source:
The Royal Parks

For more information contact:
Royal Parks Press Office, Tel. +44 (0)20 7298 2128 Mob: +44 (0)7970 660 132

Editor's notes:
Reducing the speed limit is subject to Parliamentary approval.

Richmond Park covers 2,358 acres and is Europe's largest urban walled park (the wall is 8 miles long). Its origins as a place for royal deer hunting go back to Edward I (1272-1307) and it still retains a 650+ herd of deer (Red & Fallow). The continuous grazing by the deer has shaped the park's habitats, maintaining stunning views over rolling grasslands and majestic parkland trees.

Richmond Park is London's largest Site of Special Scientific Interest, a National Nature Reserve, a candidate European Special Area of Conservation and a Grade 1 Listed landscape.

Richmond Park supports a fantastic variety of habitats and species. The Park is reputed to have more ancient trees in it than France or Germany and these support a diverse community of wildlife, from beetles to fungi. Lowland acid grassland is a priority habitat in the Government's UK Biodiversity Action Plan, and Richmond Park has the best and largest area of such grassland it in Greater London, centred on Pen Ponds.

Species records for the Park include 49 grasses, rush and sedges; over 250 fungi; more than 1000 beetles; 546 butterflies and moths; 139 spiders; 144 birds; and 25 mammals. Several birds found in the central region of the Park are on the national Red (seriously threatened) or Amber (declining) lists, including the skylark, reed bunting, meadow pipit, starling, green woodpecker and kestrel. The Park supports 162 Red Data Book or Notable species of invertebrate. The brown hare and probably also the grey partridge (also a Red-listed species) have disappeared from the Park in recent years.

Origin & destination surveys have shown that of the 2,500-3,800 vehicles entering the Park each hour at peak times, 96-98% was through traffic. Even at weekends through traffic accounted for 80% of all vehicles.

Pen Ponds Car Park currently has 280 spaces, with no disabled spaces.

1 acre = 0.334451 hectare.

The Royal Parks are: Bushy Park, Green Park, Greenwich Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Regent's Park (with Primrose Hill), Richmond Park and St James's Park.