Main picture photograph: Roger Hillyer
Making the most of Richmond Park in 2025
July butterflies. Photograph: Nigel Jackman
Make a New Year’s resolution to learn and enjoy more about Richmond Park National Nature Reserve, its varied landscapes, habitats and wonderful wildlife. Whatever the weather, immerse yourself in the changes that each season brings, some subtle and others dramatic.
Visit parts of the park that you are less familiar with, learn more about its trees, flora, gardens and woods, fungi, butterflies, odonata, its resident and seasonal birds, and much more if your curiosity will allow. No two days need be the same, so make the park a destination where you can both relax and learn so much, however well or otherwise you know it. Your new year starts now.
The Friends of Richmond Park have funded new trees in Richmond Park
The Friends have funded 30 new standalone trees to be planted in Richmond Park in the next couple of months, together with special crates for deer protection, staking, mulch and the watering gator bags.
The trees are a mixture of large and smaller saplings. A variety of trees have been chosen: White Elm (a hardy species associated with the white letter hairstreak butterfly), canker and leaf miner-resistant Indian horse chestnut, Small leaved lime, Alder, Wild Service and English Elms. The trees will be planted in Sheen Wood, Barn Wood, White Lodge Hill, Spanker’s Hill Wood and Platinum Jubilee Woodland surrounds.
We are also funding a number of whips, young seed grown trees which have had no pruning or training, to supplement new scrub planting across the park.
The funding includes income received from sales at The Visitor Centre.
Honour for The Royal Parks Chair
Congratulations to The Royal Parks Chair Loyd Grossman, who has been awarded a knighthood in the King’s New Year Honours list for services to heritage.
Heathrow and flights update
As 2025 begins two critical developments in Heathrow’s airspace modernisation plan that threaten Richmond Park have emerged, and on a positive note we welcome Richmond Council’s decision to support minimal changes to Heathrow’s current flight paths.
Richmond Council’s updated policy
Richmond Council has formally updated its Heathrow policy This revised policy calls on Heathrow to commit to including a “do minimum” option in its Airspace Modernisation consultation and to ensuring that its preferred option (once developed) properly protects the environment including Richmond Park. This decision follows a meeting of the Council Standing Committee meeting at which Ron Crompton of the Friends explained the impact on Richmond Park.
A new body proposed to sponsor airspace change
The government and the CAA, concerned about the slow speed of airspace modernisation, are consulting on setting up a new body – the UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS). It would take control of all of the London area (SE England) airports’ Airspace Modernisation plans, including those currently being developed by Heathrow. The Friends have responded to the consultation with three main demands – that UKADS continue the current Heathrow level of informal stakeholder engagement; that they honour the commitments Heathrow has already made about Richmond Park; and that they undertake a full environmental assessment of the impact on the Park.
The end of the Cranford agreement will impact Richmond Park
The Cranford agreement is a commitment made to the people of Cranford village 50 years ago that Heathrow would not use its northern runway for departures towards the east (which are about 30% of the time). In 2009 the government announced the ending of that agreement and Heathrow will start using the northern runway for easterly departures from 2025. The flight paths are already approved, although they have not been much used over the last 50 years. The changes will mean planes taking off from the northern runway flying closer to Pembroke Lodge and onwards to Ham Cross and Isabella Plantation, where they will merge with the current flight path from the southern runway; they will then go over the southern section of the Park, exiting around Ladderstile Gate. We do not expect this to lead to additional flights over the Park but some of the noise will be shifted northwards towards the Pembroke Lodge area.
We are considering whether to respond to the planning application for the associated ground-level infrastructure. We are also studying its detailed Environmental Assessment for clues as to Heathrow’s likely approach to an Environmental Assessment for its Airspace Modernisation proposals.
For more information please visit Save Richmond Park – Friends of Richmond Park.