Petersham Road Closure
Petersham Road will be closed from Monday 1 August until Sunday 4 September to allow for the replacement of the gas main. During this time traffic will be diverted through Richmond Park during Park opening times. Overnight vehicles will have to drive around the Park or cross Kingston and Richmond bridges to travel between Ham and Richmond. Pedestrians and cyclists (dismounted) will be able to pass by. National Grid can be contacted on 0800 096 5678.
Road Closure - Sunday 31 July
All park roads will be closed on Sunday 31 July to facilitate the Ride London cycling event. In the morning around 30, 000 cyclists will ride through the park and then professional cyclists will follow the same route in the afternoon. The Park roads will be closed to all traffic including cyclists not participating in the event. Walkers are still welcome but it will be difficult to cross the road between 06.00 and 11.30 am and dogs must be on a lead.
Grass Snakes
Grass snakes are present in the park and, although a population estimate has not been conducted, juveniles are seen regularly and they therefore breed well.
Like all reptiles they are ‘cold blooded’ which means they cannot regulate their own body temperature. They rely on high daytime temperatures and radiated warmth to be active and can be found basking in the sun on dark surfaces in the summer. They are incredibly shy and sense vibrations from anyone approaching, quickly disappearing into nearby cover and are therefore difficult to see.
These snakes are associated with water and can occasionally be seen swimming or lurking in ponds, where they will feed on live amphibians such as frogs but may occasionally eat worms, fish and small mammals. They lay a clutch of up to 40 ‘leathery’ shelled eggs, each about 2-3 cm long, and often do this in compost or manure heaps as it provides protection and incubation until they hatch in early autumn.
Park Rubbish
The Royal Parks provide 129 litter bins and dog waste bins across Richmond Park in locations that can be serviced by vehicle, whilst minimising the amount of off-road driving.
They are emptied by a team of 8 people that work 7 days a week on shifts starting before the park opens until closing time or later. They collect over 100 tonnes of litter a year, 48% is dog waste, 19% non recyclables and 33% recyclable (glass, plastic and cardboard).
Last year the Royal Park ran a trial to see if recycling rates could be improved. Unfortunately it would seem it is not possible for everyone to separate their picnic waste properly. Often people carry all their mixed waste back from a picnic, tied in a carrier bag and then place the bag in its entirety in the bin. Often 50% of the waste placed in the recycling bin was non recyclable which would not be able to be processed by the waste management company. Therefore the practicable solution will be for the Royal Parks to ask people to take recycling home whilst the contents of the park bins will go to ‘energy from waste’ facilities.
