The Royal Parks launches Movement Strategy

Following wide-ranging consultation and input from thousands of members of the public, transport partners and local boroughs, The Royal Parks charity has today launched its Movement Strategy and has announced details of five projects it intends to trial later in the year.

In line with the Movement Strategy, all the trials seek to restrict cut through motor traffic on park roads and create new spaces for park visitors to enjoy.

Reducing the volume of cut-through traffic in the parks has long been an aspiration for The Royal Parks. As a result of the current Covid-19 crisis, the parks have been temporarily fully closed or partially closed to motor vehicles since the end of March, therefore most of the measures listed below are already in place.

The trials include

•    In Bushy Park, restricting all through traffic with a partial road closure between Teddington and Hampton Court Gates
•    In St James’s and Green Parks, closing the Mall and Constitution Hill to traffic on Saturdays, in addition to the regular Sunday closures
•    In Greenwich Park, a full-time closure of the Avenue to cut through vehicle traffic
•    In Hyde Park, trial closures of North Carriage Drive permanently, and South Carriage Drive on Saturdays, in addition to the regular Sunday closures
•    In Richmond Park, reducing cut through motor vehicles (with more details to follow).

Mat Bonomi, Head of Transport for The Royal Parks, said: 

“Our Movement Strategy sets a clear vision for how we will manage our parks now and into the future. We know there is a lot of interest in what we will do next, particularly after the Covid-enforced road restrictions, so we are informing you now of our planned trials for later in the year.

“It is clear that the role parks play in the health and happiness of our cities has never been more important than it is now, and for that reason we are accelerating the implementation of a series of trial projects across six of our parks. Our parks have been a lifeline for Londoners during the pandemic and, with more people than ever walking and cycling in London, these trials will be a chance for Londoners to continue to enjoy new car-free areas of the parks.

“As the charity managing over 5,000 acres of historic parkland and green space across London, we must ensure that we conserve and enhance these unique spaces and support the health and happiness of Londoners now and in the future.”

The Royal Parks’ Movement Strategy sets a coherent framework to help shape and inform the policies relating to how park visitors can access, experience and move within the parks. The trials will last for six months and will not formally start until the car parks are fully re-opened. We will announce the start date of the trials and consultation period as soon as is possible. To stay informed of the process and progress of the trials, people are encouraged to sign up to the Movement Strategy mailing list: https://www.royalparks.org.uk/movement.

To download the Strategy and for more information on the trials, visit our website www.royalparks.org.uk/movement.