Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in February 2023. 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.
IN THIS ISSUE… +++ Deer cull starts TONIGHT +++ Roadworks until end of March +++ Crowdfunder for legal challenge to Sheen Gate closure fails – twice +++ Latest police stats and incidents revealed +++
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CULL OF THE WILD
It’s that time of the year again, friends – the deer cull is starting TONIGHT at 8pm. The usual rules apply:
Please find an alternative route for the next six weeks if you are riding anytime between 8pm and 7.30am, when the gates will be locked for your own safety.
If you arrive at the park shortly before locking begins, do not enter unless you are absolutely certain you can reach your exit before 8pm, otherwise you may have to ride back to the gate you entered and wait a very long time for The Royal Parks’ team to return on its final sweep and open it for you.
The last cull, in November, finished a few days before the full six-week period ended, so the gates were fully reopened early. If we hear that the same thing is happening this time, we will post updates on our social media. Links to our Instagram, Twitter and Facebook channels are at the foot of this email.
GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR WORKS
We have lift-off! Exactly a year to the day after we outlined the replacement of the temporary barriers, cones and signs with timber gates, posts and fencing, we can report that construction workers are now on site.
You may have already seen them on the middle road. They are from a firm called Ground Control, which will also be installing cycling-friendly courtesy crossings for pedestrians. All the work is scheduled to finish on March 31, and although the park’s roadway will remain open for cycling throughout that time, sections are likely to be closed for short periods. As mentioned in last month’s bulletin, we have requested weekday closures, which are preferable as the weekends are busier. We will post updates on social media if we get them, and you can also check on TRP’s website here.
Tubular counters, which look like pairs of thin cables covering the width of the road, have been installed in various locations to record the speed and frequency of traffic before and after the works to measure the effect of traffic-calming measures.
We have also requested signage at the gates to convey the message that the park’s roadway is a distinct environment from external roads, and as such motorists should drive with greater courtesy towards vulnerable road users, including cyclists. Encouragingly, park manager Paul Richards said he will look into it.
GATE OUTTA HERE
Anyone who, like us, cycled on the outer road last Saturday morning will have experienced the usual tale of two parks: a breezy, unencumbered ride through the restricted eastern roads, contrasted with frustrating moments on the western stretch between Richmond and Kingston gates where through traffic congestion makes perilous filtering more or less obligatory and crossing the road more difficult. So it is some consolation to learn that a small group of residents living near the park last month failed not once, but twice, to raise enough money to begin a legal challenge aimed at overturning the decision to close Sheen Gate to motor vehicles which has helped make the road from Roehampton to Richmond gates a much pleasenter place to cycle and walk.
Take Back Sheen Gate wanted £5,000 to commence proceedings, warning that in a “worst case scenario”, the total cost would be £45,000. Last week, with just one hour to go, the total amount of pledges was more than a grand short of the £5k target, so the organisers extended the deadline by three days – but in that time they did not receive another penny. Now they are going for broke by asking for £50,000 – that’s ten times the original amount, in the same one-month time frame. You may question the wisdom of that decision, especially as the totaliser is still stuck stubbornly below £4,000.
It should be stressed that the organisers have chosen to remain anonymous on their crowdfunding page; without any names, pledgers do not know for certain who will be holding the funds, which may be why so few people have wanted to part with their cash. Or maybe the main reason why a measly 42 people have contributed is that most residents like the extra space to walk and ride a bike, and aren’t particularly keen on having cars cutting through their neighbourhood en route to the park or exiting it. Our money is on the latter.
STUDY TIME
Staying on the subject of gates, some good news for cargo bikers and those using wheelchairs: the proposed accessibility study, which we last mentioned in December’s bulletin, has gone out to tender, with three companies competing to carry it out. This comes after subscribers who ride cargo bikes told us how difficult they find it to enter and exit the park through the narrow pedestrian gates when the main entrances are shut. Park manager Paul Richards spoke to us about the tender at our most recent quarterly meeting with him this month; hopefully there will be more news when we next see him.
CASE DISMISSED!
The latest quarterly police report on incidents officers have attended in the park contains a rare occurrence: a cyclist found not guilty. He had moved to avoid a rider coming down Broomfield Hill towards him and in doing so hit another cyclist. We mentioned the incident, which took place in May last year, in our August 2022 bulletin, noting that the cyclist was said to be on the wrong side of the road. But in the judge’s view, summarised in the latest court results: “His actions were deemed a reasonable response to danger in the road. Case was dismissed.”
In another court verdict, a motorist who had driven into the park via the exit gate as the entrance was closed was fined £274 and given three penalty points for driving without due care and attention. He had pleaded guilty.
As usual, Sgt Peter Sturgess presented the report at the Safer Parks Panel, which sets the police’s priorities for the forthcoming three months. The panel decided to continue the list set in October: apprehending trade vehicles and closed road offences, wildlife protection, and off-track cycling and cycle lights at night.
Here’s a summary of incidents and statistics featured in the report:
A total of 276 trade vehicle drivers and 113 speeding motorists were stopped from October to December.
75 cyclists were stopped for venturing off designated tracks.
A driver pushed a cyclist on Sawyer’s Hill (December 9). Sgt Pete explained the police spoke to the motorist about their behaviour, which was the course of action the victim agreed to be taken.
On Ham Gate Avenue, just outside the park, a driver was treated for shock after pulling out and hitting a car, causing it to flip onto its roof (November 11).
In an incident of common assault, a suspect got away after a pedestrian tried to stop them heading towards Thatched House Lodge on the restricted road close to Ham Cross (December 23). The police told us that the pedestrian believed there was cannabis in the car but did not call back when an officer phoned to investigate.
One driver overtook another at Pembroke Lodge to nab a parking space. The other driver punched him, kicked him and pulled him out of his vehicle (December 20).
A cyclist had an apparent medical emergency and fell from his bike (October 11).
On Broomfield Hill, a cyclist swerved to avoid two other riders, resulting in another person cycling into him from behind (November 11). The cyclist who swerved fractured his hip.
A cyclist broke their front teeth after U-turning on Sawyer’s Hill and hitting another rider, who was bruised in the incident.
There was a usual crop of cycling accidents which appear to be the result of small misjudgments on the part of the victim. A girl came off and broke her arm after clipping her dad’s back wheel (October 1), and two cyclists came off on Dark Hill on Ocotober 29: one had been told to go slower by the police due to a collision further down, while the other lost control, possibly while reaching for her water bottle.
SEE YOU NEXT MONTH...
As ever, thank you for allowing us to pop into your inbox, and let us know what you think about anything related to cycling in Richmond Park – we reply personally to every email you send us. If you enjoyed this bulletin, please share it with your cycling friends – and if they like what they read, encourage them to sign up to our mailing list too. The more subscribers we have, the bigger our voice.
All the best,
Richmond Park Cyclists