Richmond Park, home to a wide variety of wildlife, such as deer, rabbit and squirrels, is one of London’s eight Royal Parks and covers an area of 2500 acres. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our local beauty spot was partially closed to vehicles from March 2020 to prevent excessive traffic congestion.
The closure to traffic during lockdown had a dramatic impact on the park, including on the well-being of wildlife, and an argument raged as to whether the park should be permanently closed, or if one should once again have the luxury of cruising through the idyllic scenery.
Measures are now being trialled to ensure the ongoing benefits of reduced traffic in the park. Details of the Richmond Park Movement Strategy trials can be found on the Royal Parks website, where members of the public can also leave their feedback.
The Royal Parks is a charity that supports parklands across London and is led by a board for trustees. They care for parks such as Bushey, Richmond and Kensington Gardens.
“Our sole priority throughout the first lockdown was to keep the parks open and safe, and we’re immensely proud we were able to do that.”-The Royal Parks
To my delight, the measures being trialled implement a scheme that restricts all through-traffic between Broomfield Hill Car Park and Robin Hood Car Park, with an additional vehicle link between Sheen Gate and Sheen Cross. On weekends the trial will restrict all cut-through traffic between Roehampton, Sheen and Richmond Gates to create a quiet zone on the north side of the park.
These trials are following the ‘Royal Parks Movement Strategy’, which contributed to moulding the policies relating to how people can use the parks, and involves consultation across thousands of park users, transport businesses and local boroughs.
Before the lockdown closure, I, myself, often had the unfortunate experience of fighting my way through the swarms of planet-destroying machinery with hundreds of families, all fighting to get into the small number of parking spaces. In my mother’s car, we would encounter a series of four-by-four cars fighting to get those sacred spots, which not only was an unpleasant sight to see, but contributed to the tremendous lines of traffic building up behind. There is without a doubt a problem that needs to be solved in Richmond Park.
If these trials are successful, this will reduce the amount of cut-through traffic inside the park, but could possibly be a problem for park visitors when looking for a place around the outside perimeter for the park. I can remember in lockdown having to park far from the gate as there wasn’t a sufficient amount of space. It will be a balancing act between the advantages of an improved car-free environment, and the disadvantages of restricted access to the park.
Despite the problem with increased traffic outside of the park, which in my opinion is inevitable, there will also be many benefits for these measures to be trialled. Personally, I would like to enjoy the glorious park, without cars infiltrating it and causing distress to animals. The local population may resent the fact that there is congestion on the exterior of the park, however, I’m sure that as avid park users, they will appreciate the experience of having a wonderful green area to enjoy exercising in. The trial concludes in February 2021 and will hopefully be a success, and we will see the measures adopted permanently.
