Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the mailout that we sent in November 2019. 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.
REMEMBER, REMEMBER…
...the FOURTH of November! This Monday evening - the one before Bonfire Night - there will be more loud bangs than a firework display as the biannual deer cull commences. It lasts approximately six weeks, during which time the gates will be locked in rotation from 8pm every evening and opened at 7:30am.
The Royal Parks carries out the culls to control the number of deer. The amount that needs to be culled varies according to the health of the herd, so TRP does not give exact dates for when it will finish. In any case, you won’t be able to ride through the park at night while the cull is taking place, so use an alternative route. It’s for your own safety!
POLICE TARGETS
The Richmond Park Police Panel decides on policing priorities for the following three months - and we are pleased to say that we accepted its invitation to make a special presentation at the latest quarterly meeting which took place three weeks ago.
We explained to the police, local councillors, The Royal Parks and various stakeholders how the profile of visitors who ride bikes in the park should be as varied as the general population - but at the moment there is a smaller presence of women, children and other groups which research shows tend to feel more apprehensive on the open road than men.
We outlined the main safety concerns of cycling in the park: close passing, large vehicles and motorists pulling out or manoeuvering without due care. We also brought up Intelligent Road Charging - the idea of reducing the number of shortcut journeys by data capturing vehicles’ number plates as they enter and leave. The attendees were already familiar with the concept from RPC’s representations at previous meetings (and many subscribers will already know IRC was part of our submission to the Movement Strategy, the first stage of which The Royal Parks is still in the process of concluding).
Sadly, our proposal of covert policing to catch dangerous and careless road users, as well as the presence of trade vehicles, was ruled out on grounds of resourcing. Duty officers cover both Bushy and Richmond parks, and with up to only two pairs patrolling at once, each has to be able to get to the other park for an emergency. Policing Richmond Park in plain clothes in an unmarked car would not be possible as they would be expected to head quickly to a potentially dangerous situation in uniform and in a marked vehicle.
At each meeting, the attendees vote for three priorities that the police will target during the quarter-year. This time the areas decided on were dogs off leads, deer harassment and the theft of autumn fruit. All relevant issues for a national nature reserve - but while we appreciate the chance to make a presentation to the panel, we also look forward to making sure cycling-related issues are prioritised by the police in future.
SPEED CHECK
One area that could be a priority is speeding. Prior to the panel meeting, the Royal Parks’ police distributed figures to attendees which recorded how many motorists and cyclists were stopped for exceeding the 20mph limit from July to September, and what action was taken. The figures are encouraging, although they throw up some interesting questions. (We should stress that it may turn out that we have made some incorrect assumptions, so we will speak to the police in the coming weeks and include any clarifications or corrections from them in a subsequent bulletin.)
Traffic Offence Reports, which can result in a fine or another action, were issued to 41 drivers; there were none for cyclists. Motorists who were judged to have breached park regulations totalled 48, while for cyclists it was five. Obviously, a car can typically do much more harm than a bike, so these figures reflect a proportionate approach to speeding which many cyclists would welcome.
But when it comes to verbal warnings, there were a far greater number dished out to cyclists than motorists each month - between two and six times more. Why should this be?
Many people ride their bikes together with other cyclists in the park, and stopping a speeding group reaps more verbal warnings than pulling over an individual driver. And there are some cyclists who can be somewhat enthusiastic with their speed when descending, sometimes without realising it, so an eagle-eyed policeman or two waiting at the foot of a hill could have a busy day.
But speeding in a car is much easier to do - and speaking as motorists ourselves, we have always noticed that some drivers regularly exceed the speed limit as a matter of course. Believe it or not, every week we drive through the park with the speedometer’s needle fixed resolutely at 20, and on almost every occasion a car overtakes and maintains its speed at 30mph or more.
Surely that frequency suggests the number of motorists who receive verbal warnings should be greater than those given to cyclists - who, even at their fittest, cannot typically exceed 20mph for a sustained period of time. And would not reducing speeding make the park more welcoming for vulnerable users? Let us know what you think and we’ll reflect your views at the next panel meeting.
HARD AT WORK
You have probably already enjoyed cycling on the new road surface that has been laid between Robin Hood and Roehampton Gates or noticed the reinstated section of the roadway edge near Richmond Gate - so we would like to thank The Royal Parks and its industrious workmen for carrying out the works so promptly. And on the subject of hard workers, spare a thought for TRP’s transport chief Mat Bonomi, who is still slogging through the thousands of responses to the Movement Strategy survey, which should bring improvements to cycling in Richmond Park. Keep an eye out for more news soon - either in our next bulletin or our social media channels.
TIME FOR BREAKFAST
Finally, a date for your diaries - Wednesday 15th November. That’s when the next Stakeholders’ Breakfast Meeting is taking place, and Richmond Park Cyclists will once again be attending on your behalf. Taking a broader management perspective that the Police Panel, the biannual event is The Royal Parks’ opportunity to explain what it is doing to maintain and enhance the visitor experience whilst safeguarding the park’s environment for future generations. Please let us know what you would like us to discuss by emailing richmondparkcyclists@gmail.com.
SEE YOU NEXT MONTH...
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All the best,
Richmond Park Cyclists
website: richmondparkcyclists.org
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