Each month, we are emailing a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is last month's mailout. If you like it, please sign up on our Get Involved section - you will be showing your support for our work and you will receive our free monthly bulletins a month before they appear here. Have a look at our first bulletin to find out more about how RPC was formed and why we are progressing the idea of reducing traffic in the park by charging for shortcut journeys.
CLOSED ENCOUNTERS
Do you ride through the park in the mornings or after dark? Then you will probably have noticed that the gates have been closed for the first of the bi-annual deer culls.
It began on the 6th of this month and lasts approximately six weeks. During this time, the pedestrian gates will be locked in rotation from eight each evening and opened in the morning by 7:30. Consequently, it would be wise to avoid entering the park after 8pm or before 7:30am as you could find your exit gate locked.
The Royal Parks carries out the culls as a sensible measure to control the number of deer. Once it has achieved the necessary quota, the process ends. For that reason, TRP is unable to give an exact date for when it will finish - so keep an eye out for signs on the gate.
RACE SCHEDULE
Every year, Richmond Park hosts a number of sports events. Here are three that have been confirmed for later in 2018:
Sunday, May 13 - Timothy James and Partners ten-mile run
Sunday, July 29 - Pru Ride London and London Classic Road Race
Sunday, September 16 - London Duathlon
You may want to note them down in your diary because the park will be partially shut for all three. And good luck if you’re taking part in any of them!
THERE MAY BE A SHORT WAIT...
After many months of speaking to MPs and council leaders, we are close to completing our initial consultations on Intelligent Road Charging. Naturally, the focus for our elected representatives is now on the local elections in May, so we recognise that the next phase of talks will have to wait until after the votes have been cast.
During our discussions, it has become clear that the reduction in the grant given by the Government to the Royal Parks will affect TRP’s finances. Obviously, charging for shortcut journeys could be a viable means of making up the shortfall.
If you regularly use the perimeter road in the park, you won’t have failed to notice that the roads have deteriorated in many places over the winter. The Royal Parks receives no grant from the Highways Agency, Transport for London nor local boroughs for the shortcut journeys made in motor vehicles through the park. It is also worth noting that the official list of TRP’s key aims - which it refers to as Charitable Objects - does not include accommodating motorists who use the park as a through route.
Up to 90 per cent of the eight million annual journeys in the park are by people using it as a shortcut. A small charge, we feel, could go a long way in helping maintain the fabric - as well as the roads - of this special place.
RUBBISH TIPS
Finally, a few pointers on discarding litter which is created by cyclists who use the park for training.
An environmentalist who frequently visits the park asked us to pass on the message that TRP’s rubbish-pickers frequently find discarded gel and bar wrappers next to the road. We appreciate that you might never knowingly drop litter, and in this weather cold fingers can sometimes fail to locate a jersey pocket when you are trying to keep an empty wrapper. But whether your rubbish is dropped accidentally or not, the fact remains that deer happily munch on your used plastic, and eating it can cause pain or even kill them. So take care - and take your litter home.
Thanks for taking time to read our newsletter - and, as ever, special thanks to everyone who has passed our monthly missives to their cycling friends. Feel free to forward this to anyone you may think will want to join our mailing list.
All the best,
Richmond Park Cyclists
website: richmondparkcyclists.org
twitter: twitter.com/richmondpkcycle
facebook: facebook.com/richmondparkcyclists