Main picture: A new wooden sculpture near Sheen Gate car park, carved by Dan Cordell
Photograph: Roger Hillyer
Update on the Parks Police unit
The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that they have decided to close the Royal Parks Operational Command Unit by 1 November 2025. This ends over 150 years of dedicated policing in Richmond Park.
This is a serious loss of resource, experience and expertise for Richmond Park.
The Met have told us that they will still undertake their core responsibilities, which they describe as: “responding to emergency calls, which is non-negotiable, patrolling, supporting events and maintaining relationships with partners and stakeholders”. These responsibilities will be transferred to local police teams. We have not been provided with details of how that responsibility will be transferred.
We are particularly concerned about enforcement of The Royal Parks Regulations as they can only be enforced by The Metropolitan Police.
The Royal Parks have told us that they want to reassure the public that they will be working closely with the Police over the next six months to ensure a plan is put in place to maintain public safety once the unit is fully disbanded.
Planning permission approved for new café at Roehampton Gate
Image: The Royal Parks
Richmond Council has granted planning permission for a new cafe at Roehampton Gate. The current facilities are temporary structures erected 20 years ago after a fire destroyed the original buildings. The park landscape around the cafe will be improved to increase biodiversity. The design includes a new entrance to the car park.
The planning permission includes a number of conditions that must be met before work can start. The timescale of the project is still to be confirmed.
Newly renovated Petersham playground opens
Photo: Copyright The Royal Parks / Chris O’Donovan
The newly renovated Petersham Playground has reopened. The playground is designed to connect with nature through wildlife friendly features and the use of natural materials.
The playground opened on 12 April with a community planting day which included the Friends of Richmond Park Discoverers. As part of the Discoverers stall, we asked children to draw their favourite thing in the playground.
The Royal Parks urges cyclists to slow down as it launches new cycling campaign
The Royal Parks has launched a campaign encouraging cyclists to be more considerate and to adhere to the speed limit to enhance safety and improve the park experience for all visitors.
The campaign is backed by a new code of conduct for all cyclists in Richmond Park. Cycling in The Royal Parks | The Royal Parks
The code of conduct provides best-practice guidance on safe cycling within the parks. It asks cyclists to:
- Respect the park environment
- Respect all park visitors
- Control their speed
- Know the rules – comply with the Highway Code and Park Regulations
- Be seen and be heard
Help Save the Song of the Skylark
Photograph: Sue Lindenberg
The Royal Parks are highlighting the importance of skylarks – including the request for dogs to stay on leads in the identified skylark protection zones and stay on the specified paths.
For more information, including the skylark areas in Richmond Park, see The Royal Parks website
Help save the song of the skylark | The Royal Parks
Spring Bird Count
The Richmond Park Bird Group’s annual Spring Bird Count took place on 27 April, when 25 enthusiasts scoured the Park to identify as many species as possible in the day. Run since 2015, the record count of 73 in 2017 was exceeded with a magnificent tally of 77. Surprisingly this total was reached without any stand-out rarity and excluded our resident Cetti’s Warbler and Firecrest and early visitors and passage birds such as Cuckoo, Whinchat, Common Redstart or Ring Ouzel which would have sent the total even higher. The common House Sparrow is sometimes seen around the edges of the Park, but as usual remained elusive.