RPC Bulletin #65, June 2023

Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in June 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… +++ Tell the Royal Parks how the road installations have affected you +++ One-way proposal for roads outside Kingston Gate +++ Hero PC helps save stricken cyclist +++ Speed watchers revealed +++ 

Visit our sponsors: Bella Velo, Cycle Exchange, Kingston Wheelers, London Dynamo, Look Mum No Hands!, Pearson Cycles, Richmond Cycles Sigma Sports Electric

SPEAK OUT

It’s time for you to let The Royal Parks know how you feel about the controversial new road installations, which are continuing to cause frustration and conflict between cyclists and motorists. 

Last week we captured some of the issues on camera as we cycled over Beverley Brook Bridge with Tim Lennon from the Richmond Cycling Campaign en route to Holly Lodge, where we met with Paul Richards, the park’s manager, and Sgt Pete Sturgess from the park’s police unit. At that meeting, Paul agreed to give us a copy of the independent safety report which green-lit the hazardous new infrastructure and the 10mph limit on Broomfield Hill. A second safety report is due to be delivered on the 12th, and a separate park-wide accessibility audit should examine how disabled people, cargo bike riders and others are impacted by the road changes. 

A few weeks prior to speaking with Paul and Sgt Pete, we attended the latest Stakeholders’ Meeting at Pembroke Lodge, where Tom Jarvis, the outgoing Head of Parks, appeared to strike a conciliatory tone. Regarding Beverley Brook and the priority flow near Roehampton Gate, the minutes record him stating: “We will continue with the safety audit to ensure these areas are safe. If the audit shows that we’re then looking at our measures as an inconvenience, we then need to work with stakeholders to resolve this. [...] This is a learning process for us.”

But park manager Paul warned us last week that the safety audit may recommend that all the measures stay in place – which is precisely our fear, especially as the company carrying out the report is the same one that gave them the go-ahead in the first place.

During the meeting at Holly Lodge, it emerged that TRP has been landed with a £9,000 bill to remove graffiti sprayed in a number of locations on the road in protest. Naturally, we deplore this vandalism, and recommend a more constructive course of action: communicating directly in a civil way with the park management so they are aware how counterproductive their changes have been. We’ve set out our views, but we think TRP and its safety consultants may not appreciate the strength of your feeling unless they hear from subscribers directly. Please email richmond@royalparks.org.uk, expressing in your own words how the infrastructure and the new 10mph limit has impacted your enjoyment of the park, and copy us in. 

Here are the four key changes we want to see made which you may want to incorporate in your message: 

1. Move the timber posts back from the outside edge of the road at the new gateways to make them less threatening to cyclists.

2. Create free-flowing cycle slip lanes in both directions at the new give-way priority systems over Beverley Brook Bridge and next to Roehampton Gate car park.

3. Relocate signage on the back of gates and fencing which currently block sightlines.

4. Revert to 20mph signage on Broomfield Hill. When we brought this issue up with the police, they indicated that they would not stop cyclists if they exceeded 10mph unless they were riding in a manner that endangered others or themselves. But inevitably some will see the signs and dutifully keep their speed at around 10mph, which creates a potential hazard by increasing the difference between slower and faster riders.

For further inspiration, you can also read our open letter to park manager Paul, which is on our website here. He has said he will respond to it in due course.

Taken as a whole, the traffic restrictions introduced by the Movement Strategy have made the park a safer and more hospitable place to ride a bike. We want to make sure this good work is not undermined by the new changes which were not part of the trial.

THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY

Congratulations to the Friends of Kingston Gate, whose decade-long campaign against frequently dangerous local traffic conditions has succeeded in persuading the council to propose a one-way system, with a contraflow for cycling, on King’s Road and New Road. 

As documented on the group’s Twitter account over the years, the area outside the gate is often congested with little room for motor vehicles to safely pass each other, resulting in traffic queuing into the park, angry confrontations, injuries to cyclists, and motorists sometimes coming to blows. So this proposal seems like a sensible solution.

Some would instead prefer road filtering similar to Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, but the FoKG say councillors have ruled this out. It’s one-way or no way – and if this proposal fails, it would be particularly disappointing given that a similar scheme was rejected in 2019 after a public consultation. 

The council will vote on the scheme at a committee meeting on Tuesday, and the proposed start date for works is September 23. We will pass on details of how to show support when we have them.

THANKS FROM THE HEART

Take a bow, PC Paul Barber! The park’s long-serving police officer helped save the life of a cyclist who had collapsed on the grass after ascending Broomfield Hill last month – and now Paul is being given an award in recognition of his speedy help.

A couple of minutes after two members of the public stopped and gave emergency first aid, Paul arrived on the scene to administer a defibrillator on the stricken man. The cyclist, who is believed to be in his late forties or early fifties, has now made a full recovery.

Paul was typically modest about his role in the incident when we bumped into him at Pen Ponds earlier this week, so it is our pleasure to spread the word a little more widely, and thank him for his actions.

BAD SHOUT 

Unacceptable behaviour from a small number of cyclists in a couple of contexts has been a cause of concern for the park’s management recently.

The first is verbal abuse directed at visitors driving to the ballet school. Some cyclists direct their anger at these drivers incorrectly assuming that they do not have permission to be on Sawyer’s Hill. Many of these visitors will have a permit on display. If you see anyone on a bike acting aggressively in this way, please ask them to desist, as their behaviour causes huge distress to their targets as well as affecting the reputation of us all. And if you see a driver in any of the restricted areas, do not confront them – pass the details to police who can take appropriate action if necessary as they have successfully done many times. 

The second concern is regarding Royal Parks’ staff preventing traffic from heading towards car parks when they are full at weekends and Bank Holidays. A number of cyclists have berated them after being asked to stop which, again, cannot be tolerated. Treat these staff members with respect, and politely call out anyone you encounter who does not do so.

SPEEDY RESOLUTION

On a final note, a mystery has been solved: the two men who pointed a speed-recording device at one of our subscribers while she descended Sawyer’s Hill were representatives from the Friends of Richmond Park, who apparently measure cycling and driving speeds on a regular basis. 

We have thanked the Friends’ chairman Roger Hillyer for contacting us after he read the item in last month’s bulletin, and requested that his helpers refrain from pointing their devices at cyclists descending Broomfield Hill in case they startle or distract them, thereby causing a crash. We also look forward to seeing the Friends’ data once it is complete.

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

RPC Bulletin #64, May 2023

Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in May 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… +++ Our response following overwhelmingly negative reaction to road installations +++ Mystery men pointing speed guns at cyclists +++ Meet a new addition to our list of sponsors +++ Machete-wielding teen bike thief jailed +++ Round-up of road incidents over the past quarter-year +++ 

Visit our sponsors: Bella Velo, Cycle Exchange, Kingston Wheelers, London Dynamo, Look Mum No Hands!, Pearson Cycles, Richmond Cycles Sigma Sports Electric

THE WORKS DON’T WORK

The park’s road installations are now complete – and the overwhelming response from cyclists is that they are a hazardous intrusion which detracts from their enjoyment of riding, while delivering no additional safety measures for any other type of park user. Please read our open letter to park manager Paul Richards setting out our concerns, which we sent after meeting with him and Sgt Pete Sturgess from the park’s police last week. You can find it here.

The Royal Parks consulted with us long before its contractors began the works, and in line with our recommendation it chose the shallower type of speed humps which are more suited to cycling. Yet other significant aspects ended up being a surprise. The 10mph signs on Broomfield Hill were not trialled and will likely add danger by increasing the differences in speed between the slowest and fastest riders. The road narrowings at Beverley Brook Bridge and opposite Roehampton car park were also not trialled and do not have the contraflows for cyclists which, before the designs were drawn up, TRP assured us would be available in all their plans. And the timber gates with signage attached not only reduce sightlines – their height, sharp edges, narrow width and close proximity to the road could cause a serious accident if a cyclist makes a small deviation from the road. 

But the greatest surprise is that there are now three places where riders are expected to stop. Why try to prevent cyclists’ continuous movement on the outer roadway (while having regard for pedestrians and safe navigation through motor traffic) when it is the fundamental aspect of their enjoyment of the park – and the safety record for cycling has generally been excellent?

TRP is not anti-cycling, but many of the road installations and the absurdly low speed limit on Broomfield are significant misjudgments. Have a read of our letter, and let us know what you think of the changes, which we are hopeful the park’s management will alter.

CAMERA OBSCURER

Following our meeting with the park manager, a subscriber sent us footage from her bike cam, shot during a descent of Sawyer’s Hill, which shows two men with a clipboard and what appears to be a speed-recording device. She writes: “When I came alongside, the man lowered it and appeared to try to obscure it.”

Neither man is wearing a Royal Parks uniform; nevertheless, we will ask TRP if it is recording cyclists’ speeds in the park in this way. In the event of the answer being no, we will contact stakeholder groups to see if any of them can shed light on the matter. Only if all our enquiries draw a blank will we make the footage public in the hope that someone else can explain what is going on.

VOLT FROM THE BLUE

Time for a surprise announcement (which, if the new road furniture and speed limit hadn’t caused such a kerfuffle, would’ve been the top item in this busy little bulletin). Please welcome a fantastic addition to our roster of sponsors… Sigma Sports Electric! The shop in Kingston’s market square is the E-bike branch of Sigma, a name that needs no introduction to legions of cyclists who visit Richmond Park. Thank you to the team for backing us, and please show your appreciation by popping into the store or having a gander at their website here.

THE BREAKFAST CUFF

It’s not every morning that a 15-year-old walks into a cafe hiding a machete, a balaclava and around £1,000 in cash in his trousers – but that’s exactly what happened on the day that police from Operation Venice, the Met’s motorcycle-enabled crime unit, arrested the violent bike-jacker who rammed a stolen moped into professional cyclist Alex Richardson in Richmond Park to steal his £15,000 bicycle in October 2021.

The Met has announced that the teen, now 17, has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and six months on licence following an appearance at Wimbledon Youth Court in April. He had admitted moped-enabled robbery, attempted robbery and possession of criminal property at an earlier hearing. Sgt Sturgess, head of the park’s police, told us that the youth and the three other males who accompanied him were already known to him and his officers, so they will be keeping a close eye to see if any of them are foolish enough to ever return to the park.

The quartet also tried to steal a bike from a cyclist on Roehampton Lane and stole another from a victim on Danebury Avenue, both locations close to the park. Over the course of less than a week, the Venice team trawled CCTV, identified the 15-year-old as the key suspect (even though he was wearing a balaclava to hide his face), issued warrants for his arrest and then went to a cafe for breakfast – where, as luck would have it, the suspect walked in with a photograph of Alex’s bike on his phone.

Alex’s injuries have healed, but he continues to suffer from anxiety, stress and sleeplessness. You can read more about the impact that the incident has had on him and his family here. We hope that other criminals have the sense to stay away, realising that bike-jacking in the park is a losing game, and trust that the police will swoop on such gangs should they reappear.

TAKING A STAND

There has been a small yet promising development following the wrecking of a bicycle and a steel bike stand near Pembroke Lodge, caused by a driver who mistakenly hit the wrong pedal in his parked 4x4 which made it lurch forward across a public path. Park manager Paul Richards told the Safer Parks Police Panel, which we attended last month, that he is considering installing bollards at the front of parking spaces facing pathways – a move which would prevent more destruction or even a death if a person happens to be walking in front of a careless driver in similar circumstances. He also revealed that The Royal Parks claimed the cost of replacing the bike stand from the motorists’ insurance.

We witnessed the incident but, as mentioned in last month’s bulletin, the police did not ask us for a statement, and the driver was not prosecuted. Sgt Sturgess told the panel that the prosecuting team, which is separate to the park’s police, confirmed to him that a statement would have had no effect on its decision as the driver had admitted he was at fault.

There was also a discussion about the car that caught fire on a Sunday afternoon in February on Queen’s Road. Paul pointed out that if the incident had happened in the summer and the flames had reached dry grass, the resulting blaze would have been much worse. Sgt Sturgess confirmed that the car – an Audi A3 with 08 plates – had developed a mechanical fault and the driver had safely got out of the car before it caught fire.

The three policing priorities for the next quarter, agreed at the meeting, are dogs on leads/deer protection, road behaviour and courtesy crossings. 

Here is a rundown of the road and cycling-related incidents that the police attended over the past three months, as presented to us and the other attendees at the panel:

• In February, a cyclist was left with cuts to their face after hitting the rear of a vehicle on Queen’s Road. They said the motorist was attempting a close pass, while the driver maintained that the collision was caused by the cyclist trying to overtake.

• Three cyclists were recorded falling at the roundabout by Richmond Gate in February due to the slippery conditions caused by a build-up of winter grime and the subsequent treatment applied to the road. They suffered minor injuries, but we know that there were many more who came off during this period and did not report the incidents. Safety consultants have given advice to TRP on how to reduce this risk next winter

• A suspect confronted a cyclist in January for riding off-track and grabbed hold of their bike.

• As usual, there were a number of cycling accidents which did not involve any other party. On the ballet school road in February, a cyclist suffered bleeding on the brain after hitting a speed bump and banging her head on the tarmac. In January, a rider had a suspected seizure near Richmond Gate and fell onto the grass. Three other incidents that same month can be attributed to rider error, resulting in various fractures and dislocations.

• There were 28 verbal warnings for riding off-track and one, in January, for cycling in a “manner likely to endanger”.

• A locked e-bike was stolen from a stand in January.

• As for motoring offences: 69 drivers were reported for speeding, 115 unauthorized trade vehicles were reported, three drivers had no insurance and two were found to be “driving not in accordance with a licence”. Two were driving while using a mobile phone and one drove without due care and attention. There were also 135 traffic offence reports relating to parking, and 43 for contravening the restrictions on motor traffic and directional signs on the park’s roads. 

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

RPC Bulletin #62, March 2023

Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in March 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… +++ Spate of cycling accidents on slippery roundabouts +++ Car ablaze on Queen’s Road +++ No further action on 4x4 driver who destroyed bike +++ Colicci closed this afternoon, and other maintenance news +++ Hoppit – toads are coming! +++

Visit our sponsors: Bella Velo, Cycle Exchange, Kingston Wheelers, London Dynamo, Look Mum No Hands!, Pearson Cycles, Richmond Cycles

ROUNDABOUT THIS TIME OF YEAR…

Twelve months after there was a spate of cyclists falling off on the park’s roundabouts, more have been hitting the tarmac in the same locations over the past month. As our subscribers and followers on social media sent us a steady stream of reports detailing various falls, we had a meeting with the police and park manager Paul Richards, who has called in health and safety experts to examine the sites which will hopefully uncover the cause.

The park management had already swept the roads at the end of January. Then, on Friday, February 3, they responded to reports of the first falls by applying absorbent white granules to the roundabouts at Kingston and Richmond gates, where an oil-like substance was detected on the road (diesel was ruled out as the liquid was odourless). But the following day, one of us at RPC recorded bike cam footage of a fall at Richmond Gate before witnessing another at Kingston Gate a few minutes later, prompting us to urge cyclists to report any similar incidents. People have since fallen at Roehampton Gate’s roundabout too, and we know of one person who has had to have surgery for their injuries.

Surface ice or frost was not a factor as all falls have been at above zero temperatures. Instead, the cause appears to have been a long period of no meaningful rain and weather cool enough to attract dew or condensation. Also, for some reason, salt that has been spread for ice prevention, not necessarily overnight, appears to draw moisture to itself more than an untreated surface. Combined with a lack of rain, this seems to build up to form a film of dust, lubricants and spilt fuel which creates a slick surface with the moisture. More recently, TRP has scrubbed and washed some of the roundabouts. 

As we await the conclusion of the health and safety investigation, please take care on the roundabouts, paying particular attention to your speed. And if you do come off or witness any such accidents…

✉️Drop us an email or a direct message via social media with as many details as possible (date, time and location) so we can build a clearer picture of the extent of the problem

📞Call 101 or use the Met’s online portal to report the incident to the police

🚑Dial 999 if you or anyone else is seriously injured.

Take care, friends!

BLAZE-Y SUNDAY AFTERNOON

The Friends of Kingston Gate photographed a car on fire in the park on Queen’s Road on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, there were no fatalities. Unusually, all of the park’s officers were absent as they had been called to a protest in Hyde Park, so the local force attended the scene. There are barriers around the spot where the car caught fire until the road is repaired. We will try to find out the cause of the blaze before the next Police Panel meeting in April. 

RIDLEY SCOTCHED

Three of us from Richmond Park Cyclists arrived at Pembroke Lodge for a meeting on a lovely sunny day a couple of weeks ago, only to have the peace shattered by the monstrous sound of a 4x4 ramming into two of the steel bike stands in front of the refreshments kiosk. A single speed owned by one of us had a narrow escape as it was locked next to the scene of the smash; sadly, the owner of a carbon Ridley Orion wasn’t so lucky. You can see the wrecked bike on our Instagram reel.

The driver of the parked Mitsubishi apparently hit the wrong pedal, sending his vehicle lurching forward across a footpath into the bike stands. Pc Paul Barber, who is one of the park’s officers, was one of those who attended the scene, but his sergeant Peter Sturgess has since told us that no further action has been taken. It should be stressed that the decision was made by the Met’s Prosecutions Unit, which progressed the initial investigation, not the park’s police.

This was a very unusual incident, and no one was hurt. Nevertheless, for a weekday, there were quite a few people walking around in the vicinity of the crash, so it could potentially have been more serious. Sgt Sturgess has contacted the case manager to find out why no further action is being taken.

If you are the cyclist whose bike was wrecked, or you know them, please contact us in confidence. 

SPRING INTO ACTION

Spring is a time of renewal – and the park is undergoing a process of change which is disrupting its usual routines. As mentioned in last month’s bulletin, the Royal Parks’ main project is the replacement of the temporary barriers, cones and signs with timber gates, posts and fencing, as well as installing cycling-friendly courtesy crossings for pedestrians, all of which is scheduled to finish at the end of March. You should still be able to ride in the park with minimal disruption, but there are a few other ongoing projects to make a note of, some of which will bring additional vehicles into the park. 

Here’s everything you need to know:

• Colicci will be closed TODAY from 2pm for the rest of the day for essential maintenance.

• Tonight and tomorrow night, when the park is closed to cars, road works will be carried out.

• From tomorrow, Thames Water will spend a few weeks installing a tank by Richmond Gate Lodge. Crews may come in after the main gates are closed and will only operate by Richmond Gate.

• On Friday, the small cycle lane at Broomfield Hill connected to the car park will be closed for essential maintenance. Please dismount and walk through the car park. 

• On Monday, Southeastern Rivers will clear the drainage defender near Roehampton Gate.

• All routes will remain open as The Royal Parks’ contractors Ground Control continue with the barrier and crossing works. They will be working on the kerbs, which means there will be cones and barriers by the side of the road. Please obey any signage asking you to slow down.

• The deer cull is scheduled to continue for the next couple of weeks, which means you will still not be able to cycle in the park from 8pm to 7.30am. If we hear the cull ends earlier, we will let you know via social media (links at the foot of this email).

HOP STARS

Speaking of spring, the season hasn’t truly sprung until the toads start hopping across one of the roads near Ham Gate. Their annual migration began yesterday, which means the section of Church Road from the junction with Latchmere Lane to Ham Gate Avenue will be closed to all traffic until March 27. Please try to enter and leave the park via another route to avoid squishing our little green chums.

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

RPC Bulletin #61, February 2023

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 +++ 

Visit our sponsors: Bella Velo, Cycle Exchange, Kingston Wheelers, London Dynamo, Look Mum No Hands!, Pearson Cycles, Richmond Cycles

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

RPC Bulletin #60, January 2023

Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in January 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… +++ Lasers for speeding motorists +++ Roadworks during road improvements +++ Can you spare time to help blind cyclists? +++

HAPPY NEW YEAR, FRIENDS!

We’re on a little hiatus at the moment, most of which has been spent waiting for the rain to cease so we can enjoy a ride in the park (and do say hello if you see the distinctive recent addition to the RPC stable propped up outside Colicci between downpours). Nevertheless, we couldn’t begin 2023 without doing two things – acknowledging that 2022 has been a landmark year for improving the park for cyclists now that The Royal Parks has made the traffic restrictions permanent, and thanking all of you for subscribing to this monthly missive, thereby boosting our voice in the local community. And, of course, we also thank our sponsors Bella Velo, Cycle Exchange, Kingston Wheelers, London Dynamo, Look Mum No Hands!, Pearson Cycles and Richmond Cycles for their kind support.

We’re also grateful to park manager Paul Richards for looking after the park and continuing our regular quarterly meetings after taking over from Simon Richards last year. The next meeting is this month, so please get in touch with any questions or subjects you would like us to bring up with him.

Due to our break, this edition of the bulletin is briefer than usual – so let’s crack on…

LASER FOCUS

Father Christmas has delivered a wonderful present to the park’s police unit – a snazzy new speed gun! The Pro Laser 4 apparently locks on to vehicles much quicker than the older one, which was harder to use and would sometimes take a while to record speed, resulting in missed opportunities as drivers slowed down when they saw it pointing at them. Sgt Peter Sturgess says officers start training with the new gun soon. Here’s to far more speeding motorists being caught from now on!

POSTS MODERN

Plastic, begone! The replacement of the temporary barriers, cones and signs with timber gates, posts and fencing, which we first outlined in February, is about to commence. There will also be some pedestrian courtesy crossings installed and two traffic-calming contraflows close to Roehampton Gate. 

We have asked that any road restrictions and closures if required during construction take place on weekdays. Visitor numbers peak at weekends, so closures during the week will inconvenience visitors least. 

Please comply with any roadwork signs during the works should there be any restrictions or partial closures – and remember that park regulations only permit cycling on the roads, the Tamsin Trail and the designated shared-use pathways.

LEADING THE BLIND

We leave you with a request for help from Chris Wright, a leader at Merton Sports and Social Club for Visually Impaired People, who has previously done lots of good work with Kingston Wheelers, one of our sponsors.

Chris’s small group of cyclists take out enthusiastic visually impaired local people on tandem rides, ranging from around Richmond Park to a 40-mile club run. Would you help them out as a pilot? 

The organisation, which has about 18 tandems, rides on the first Sunday and third Saturday of the month. Riders set out from the club’s base in Morden, and volunteers are not expected to ride every month.

The club is the only facility of its kind in London, and helping out is exceptionally rewarding. Plus, of course, you can ride as hard as you like as you won’t drop your stoker! If you want to help out, with no minimum commitment, then please email Chris at ccwright@blueyonder.co.uk.

SEE YOU NEXT MONTH...

Thanks for allowing us to pop into your inbox for this briefer-than-usual newsletter. As ever, 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 in 2023, the bigger our voice.

All the best,

Richmond Park Cyclists

RPC Bulletin #59, December 2022

Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in December 2022. 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… +++ Our sponsor line-up unveiled +++ Goodbye, Code of Conduct – hello Safer Riding Guide +++ Trial to ban through traffic? We put the question to Royal Parks boss +++ Accessibility study for cargo bikes and disabled people +++ ULEZ expansion – a plus for the park +++

Visit our sponsors: Bella Velo, Cycle Exchange, Kingston Wheelers, London Dynamo, Look Mum No Hands!, Pearson Cycles, Richmond Cycles

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

Say hello to our seven brilliant sponsors! We are proud to announce that Bella Velo, Cycle Exchange, Kingston Wheelers, London Dynamo, Look Mum No Hands! and Richmond Cycles have all renewed their sponsorship for the next 12 months, and a new name has come on board – none other than Britain’s oldest bike shop Pearson Cycles. All of them value the park as London’s No1 free cycling resource, and we thank them for supporting our work. Show your support for them by visiting their websites – just click the links on their names above!

A QUESTION OF TIME

Two weeks ago, a representative from RPC attended the biannual Richmond Park Stakeholders’ Meeting hosted by The Royal Parks. We thanked TRP for its decision to make the traffic trials permanent, and asked the following question:

 "Since the Movement Strategy trials were introduced, TRP has recorded an increase in traffic on the road between Richmond Gate and Kingston Gate of 36 per cent on Sundays and 80 per cent on Saturdays. The vast majority is demonstrably through traffic. Will TRP consider trialling weekend closure of this road to through traffic at some point in the future? If so, would they speculate on a timescale?”

Tom Jarvis, the Director of Parks, responded:

"We have no plans for further traffic restriction trials in the immediate future as we are focusing on increasing the pedestrian safety and amenity across the park. This will include the introduction of permanent infrastructure to enforce the recent traffic restrictions and a number of new and improved pedestrian crossing projects.”

The infrastructure and crossings Tom refers to are the projects we outlined in February’s bulletin. The park’s management has shown us the outline of the designs which we are happy with so far.

Penny Frost, Lib Dem councillor for Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside, took a rather different view of through traffic to us, telling TRP: “You are part of the infrastructure of the roads in the area.” But Tom stated: “The role of the park roads is not to provide transport links.”

While TRP has no plans for trialling restrictions on through traffic in the immediate future, it has now clearly restated its stance on the use of the park as a shortcut for journeys made by car. So we are confident that they could engage with our proposal for a weekend-only trial carried out by impartial external consultants once the works have been completed.

NARROW QUESTION 

One more item from the Stakeholders’ Meeting. Following a question from our friend Tim Lennon of the Richmond Cycling Campaign about the difficulties of cargo bike riders and disabled people exiting and entering through the narrow pedestrian gates when the main entrances are shut, Tom Jarvis revealed that the park’s management will be carrying out an “accessibility audit” to look into such problems. That’s good news for our subscribers with cargo bikes who emailed us about their difficulties after we highlighted the issue in last month’s bulletin. We will speak to park manager Paul Richards about the study at our next quarterly meeting, which takes place next month, so there is still time for you to let us know about any cargo bike-related issues you may have had. 

IN THE ZONE

From August next year, there could be fewer polluting vehicles in Richmond Park following Transport for London’s plan to expand the area of its Ultra Low Emissions Zone from the North and South Circular roads to the boundary of the Greater London Authority. Drivers with the most polluting vehicles will be discouraged from driving in the zone by the levy of a £12.50 daily charge. You can read more about the initiative here.

While we remain committed to removing through traffic from the park, the ULEZ expansion is a step in the right direction. Indeed, some commentators believe it is a precursor to  London-wide Road User Charging – a smart fee for driving in areas where congestion and pollution is highest. Check out the London Cycling Campaign’s informative overview of RUC and ULEZ to find out more.

SAFER GROUND

The updated version of the cyclists’ Code of Conduct is now on our website, and it has a new name – the Safer Riding Guide. You can read it here.

We decided to change the title chiefly to avoid confusion. The term “code” led some to wrongly assume that it was a set of enforced or policed rules when it is actually just basic guidelines for safe, courteous riding, and the word “safer” now correctly implies that most cyclists already ride reasonably safely.

Reflecting conversations we have had with women who ride in the park, and a recent debate on social media, one new item has been added since we published the draft in September’s newsletter. It reads as follows:

Be a gentleman. Guys, if a cyclist ahead of you appears to be a woman, avoid the temptation to draft. Being in close proximity to a male stranger could be disconcerting for that person.

Here is a reminder of the other changes, all of which which appeared in September’s draft:

• New advice on riding in the centre of the lane and riding two abreast is in line with the recent changes to the Highway Code.

• Guidance on speed now reflects the agreement between The Royal Parks and the parks’ police that the limits in the park regulations do not apply to cyclists, while also acknowledging that speed can be a contributory factor in prosecutions of inconsiderate cycling.

• Riding on the left-hand side of the road now includes a focus on the restricted stretches of road in the park. This comes after some instances of cyclists riding on the right on Broomfield Hill, thinking this would not be an issue as it is closed to traffic, only to find that they were in the path of oncoming emergency vehicles trying to get to incidents.

Please note that the current Safer Riding Guide is still in provisional form. The Royal Parks and the park’s police will provide some input, and, of course, we would like your feedback before it is formally launched early next year. Like the first edition, published in January 2021, there will be a credit-card sized version for distribution in bike shops and local businesses once the wording of the guide is finalised.

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

RPC Bulletin #58, November 2022

Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in November 2022 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… +++ Gates shut at 8pm TONIGHT as deer cull begins +++ Analysis of traffic outside the park during the trial restrictions +++ Cargo bike riders – we want to hear from you! +++ Incidents and accidents in the park – a look at the quarterly figures

FIRST MOVE

Calling all commuters! The park’s gates will be shut from 8pm tonight as the biannual deer cull begins, so you may need to use an alternative route to get home. The usual rules apply: the cull will last up to six weeks, during which time the gates will be shut daily for the public’s safety between 8pm and 7.30am. If you arrive at any of the gates shortly before locking time, you should not enter unless you are absolutely certain you can easily reach your exit before 8pm. See our website for full details.

Those of you who have cycled in the park for some years may have noticed a welcome tweak to the culling schedule, which traditionally began on the first Monday of the month. This is because of the confusion caused last time when the first Monday in February fell on the 7th and the park’s management did not want the cull to go too far into March, so it began on January 31 instead, which caught some cyclists unawares as they arrived at the gates to find them shut. So the park’s new manager Paul Richards has sensibly decided that, starting from today, the culls will always start on November 1 and February 1. Our thanks to him – and update your diaries, friends!

And if you do ride in the park in the evening before the gates are locked, please remember not to dazzle your fellow cyclists. Even though there is no street lighting, it’s perfectly safe to use the standard setting and dip the angle, if not already adjusted to face the roadway, when passing riders going in the opposite direction. They will appreciate your courtesy.

FINAL ANALYSIS

Engineering consultancy Stantec and The Royal Parks have published an analysis of the Movement Strategy trials, which came to a close last month when the temporary restrictions were made permanent. The data on external roads detailed in the 88-page document comes from sources provided by Transport for London and Richmond, Kingston and Wandsworth councils, while a third party contracted by Stantec collected information on the use of the park’s roadway from vehicle counts and Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras.

The part of the study covering external roads mainly compares figures from May 2019 to May 2021. Yet while the presentation of data is fairly clear, the effect of positive and negative external factors on traffic levels is not. Is it possible to meaningfully compare post- and pre-trial figures during a tumultuous period which saw the closure of Hammersmith Bridge, the introduction of the 20mph speed limit throughout Richmond, temporary restrictions in East Sheen, the extension of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone and the effects of entering and exiting lockdowns? The authors of the study hint very strongly that it isn’t – but thankfully, like us, they recognise the overall benefits of less through traffic aligns with TRP’s vision set out in the Movement Strategy, particularly that its “parks are for people” and its roads “are not intended to be commuter through-routes for motor vehicles”.

It is very encouraging that some predictions of additional congestion in local areas haven’t played out (and we’re grateful to Tim Lennon from the Richmond Cycling Campaign for helping us wade through the figures). For example, on Petersham Road, a key focus for the through traffic debate, “traffic flows during the weekend and daily average hours have remained consistent” (p42), and while busy Upper Richmond Road may have seen a 17% increase in journey times travelling eastbound in the morning across a distance of 2.8 miles, it actually fell by 18% in the opposite direction (p17).

And when it comes to the park, the average number of motor vehicles entering and exiting dropped by 52% on weekday mornings, and 40% and 53% respectively on Saturdays and Sundays compared to 2015 (p50) which is a great step forward for making the park’s roads more accessible for every kind of cyclist. However, the stretch from Richmond Gate to Kingston Gate saw an increase over the same period of 36% on Sundays and a startling 80% on Saturdays (p51 and 52). These are concerning statistics for the park-visitor experience, but won’t be a surprise to cyclists who have experienced the increased congestion and pollution on this stretch, which is the only remaining part of the park’s roadway that is open to through traffic at weekends. 

PRIORITY VOTING

The latest Police Panel meeting took place three weeks ago and, as ever, a representative from Richmond Park Cyclists was in attendance. On this occasion, the panel was presented with a choice of four policing priorities for the forthcoming quarter-year that had to be reduced to three. A vote was taken, and we picked the option that covered two motoring offences: driving in prohibited areas of the roadway, and trade vehicles. We are pleased to say this priority was passed, along with wildlife protection and off-track cycling.

Two fairly unusual incidents, both in August, appeared in the police report which covers the past three months. Firstly, an elderly motorist fell asleep at the wheel on Queen’s Road and hit an oncoming car. We questioned Sgt Sturgess at the meeting about this, and he told us the driver had been heading to Pembroke Lodge for a cup of tea. While obviously an alarming incident, and a good case for the argument that pensioners should be tested to keep their driving licence, it is the only one of its kind in the park that we can recall. Secondly, a cyclist was stopped for a park regulation offence called “cycling to endanger any person”. Like other entries in the regulation sections of the report, no further details are given, although speed is likely to be a factor, and Sgt Sturgess pointed out that the cyclist could have been stopped if they had been riding in a way that was deemed to be a danger to themselves. (Note that a breach of park regulations simply results in the person receiving a warning; only if they are caught doing the same thing again is the case taken further.)

There were a total of 35 traffic offence reports for speeding and 254 for driving a trade vehicle from July to September. Here are the rest of the road incidents in the park listed in the report: 

July

• A driver clipped a cyclist’s handlebars with his wing mirror. The motorist appeared to have driven away after an altercation with another cyclist who had hit the car with his hand.

• A motorist driving at speed on Priory Lane (the road between Roehampton and Robin Hood Gates) made contact with a cyclist’s right side, knocking him from his bike and leaving him with minor cuts and bruises. The next day, a cyclist lost control on Broomfield Hill and hit the verge, suffering swelling to the head, facial injuries and a possible broken arm.

• In separate incidents three days apart, two drivers on Queen’s Road hit Thompson Teeth (the wooden stumps dotted along the side of the road).

August

• There were two separate public order offences. A cyclist reported that the driver of a maintenance van committed a close pass and shouted at him. Another rider made a comment to a motorist, who then caught up with him and “appeared to ask the cyclist if he wanted a fight”. Others intervened and the driver left the scene. (We filmed some of this incident and gave more details in September’s bulletin but the cyclist declined to take the matter further.) 

• As a van turned into Holly Lodge, a cyclist braked and slid off, resulting in shallow cuts and abrasions.

• On Priory Lane in the park, a cyclist ended up with a fractured pelvis after trying to avoid hitting a dog that had run into the road.

• A cyclist hit a crack in the road on Broomfield Hill and came off, grazing their knee and bruising their thigh. (Cracks had opened up due to the hot weather and were filled in a few days after this incident in time for the London Duathlon.)

September

• At Robin Hood Roundabout, a motorist failed to give way to a cyclist and then made a close pass, causing them to fall off.

CARGO CREW

Cargo bike riders: have you experienced difficulty exiting or entering the park through the narrow pedestrian gates when the main entrances are shut? We received a few emails about this subject earlier this year and spoke to Simon Richards, the park manager at the time, but it fell by the wayside while the Movement Strategy was in full swing. Now his successor Paul Richards tells us there could be scope to improve access for cargo bikes, although any changes may be limited as the gates are listed structures. So let us know what you think, and we’ll put the case to him.

We spoke to Paul at our regular quarterly meeting with him a few weeks ago. He told us that the crossings, permanent barriers and other road improvements that we detailed in February’s bulletin should be in place by the end of March, and he is putting together an implementation plan with the aim of keeping traffic disruption to a minimum. An independent safety assessment will be carried out, and we are interested to see what it will conclude with regard to the proposed narrowing of the roadway over Beverley Brook to a single vehicle width, requiring motorists to give way to traffic travelling from Roehampton Gate to Richmond Gate. Cyclists should be able to filter through in both directions, but will this cause conflict, with drivers racing past cyclists to get through the narrow gap instead of stopping and waiting for oncoming traffic to pass? This is a key concern that we want to resolve once we have seen the plans in more detail. 

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

RPC Bulletin #57, October 2022

Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in October 2022. 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… +++ Campaign to reopen Sheen Gate to motor vehicles +++ Meeting with the park’s manager – tell us what you want discussed +++ Cyclist decides not to proceed to court with aggressive driver  +++ Rutting season – watch out for deer! +++ Polite reminder about ballet school +++ 

STILL WAITING…

In last month’s bulletin, we were looking forward to The Royal Parks making the long-awaited announcement in September confirming whether or not the traffic restrictions in the park are to become permanent. Sadly, that didn’t happen, and it may have been due to the extensive work TRP carried out at short notice for the Queen’s funeral and its associated events. Nevertheless, the park’s manager Paul Richards has assured us he will let us know as soon as a decision is made. Keep an eye on your inbox for a bonus RPC bulletin if the announcement is issued before our next scheduled newsletter at the start of November.

THEY THINK IT’S NOT ALL OVER

Imagine, if you will, a football team scoring in the first minute of the game – and then, at the 89th minute, the side that’s one-nil down complaining to the ref that the goal was offside. That, more or less, is the approach of an intriguing last-ditch attempt to “take back Sheen Gate” – or in other words, reopen it to motor traffic.

After being shut for more than two years as part of the traffic trials, and with The Royal Parks’ announcement on the conclusion of the Movement Strategy imminent, four residents who live near the gate have distributed a leaflet to kick-start a campaign on the basis that “few local people had heard of” TRP’s two widely publicised public consultations. Yet more than half the responses across all eight royal parks came from visitors to Richmond Park alone, which makes it implausible that residents of Sheen and Mortlake who care about the park would not have heard of or participated in the surveys. The foursome suggests that, as most responses were submitted online, “those who are not familiar with IT or are not able to use it, including older people and those who are disadvantaged, were disenfranchised” – although you may have thought, having been confronted with a shut gate for months on end, some of these people would have picked up the phone, written a letter or got an internet-savvy younger relative to find out what was going on or help them protest about it. 

A subscriber who sent us the leaflet said, as a local resident, he was “horrified” by it. You can read the full text here. It includes a claim that traffic has increased on Upper Richmond Road as a result of the closure, while failing to acknowledge that as cars can no longer exit the park through the gate, the residential roads close to it are more peaceful. Indeed, we detect that most residents would like Sheen Gate permanently closed as they were fed up with rat-running traffic and the use of their roads as a shortcut to the park. Of course, many would like dispensation for local residents, but the complexity and costs of a fair system which might also be sought by those who live near other gates is likely to be not only prohibitive, but excessively popular, undermining the concept of less traffic and a quieter park for cycling and walking. 

The campaigners urge residents to contact TRP and local politicians with their objections. We will also write to them, stating our support for the closure. We ask you to contact them as well, explaining how the closure has made the stretch from the gate to Sheen Cross more conducive to cycling and walking, and copy us into your correspondence. These are the people and the addresses listed in the leaflet who you should write to:

Andrew Scattergood, Chief Executive of the Royal Parks

chiefexecutive@royalparks.org.uk

Loyd Grossman, Chair of the Trustees of the Royal Parks charity

aantoniou@royalparks.org.uk

The Old Palace House , Hyde Park, London W2 2UH

Julla Cambridge, Local Councillor:

dir.j.cambridge@richmond.gov.uk

York House Richmond Road, Twickenham, TW1 3AA

Sarah Olney, MP

office@saraholney.com

Constituency Office, 108 South Worple Way, East Sheen SW14 8TN

With TRP about to blow the final whistle, let’s make sure that the idea of reopening Sheen Gate is given the red card.

MEETING THE BOSS

We’re looking forward to our second meeting with Paul Richards, the new manager of Richmond Park, on Tuesday, October 18. Email us with any cycling-related questions, queries or suggestions that you would like us to put to him. If you would like to meet us in person to chat about what you want to be discussed, come along to Chain Gang Cyclists’ monthly brunch ride on Sunday, October 16 – it’s a great way to meet other people like you who cycle in Richmond Park, and there will be groups for riders of all abilities. Alternatively, come along to La Ciclista after 12pm on the same day – but please drop us an email first. We look forward to hearing from you!

RUTS AND BOLTS

Have you noticed how deer seem to be crossing the park’s roads more often? We certainly have! Both red and fallow herds have begun their mating rituals, otherwise known as the rut, which continues until next month. The bellowing and fighting amongst the males can cause deer to bolt or trot unpredictably across the roads and pathways, so please take additional care during this season. 

You may also encounter motorists who stop unpredictably to avoid running into the animals crossing the road or to take photographs. If you decide to take photos yourself, keep your distance and please come off the road or pathway so that you do not impede the movement of others or create a hazard.

POLICE, CAMERA… NO ACTION

The cyclist who was threatened after he remonstrated with the driver of a black Mercedes for stopping in the road near Ham Cross to take a photo of a deer has decided not to press charges. Last month’s bulletin explained how we filmed the motorist being held back by his female partner as he tried to intimidate a second cyclist while the rider who he originally threatened was on the phone to the police. Now Sgt Pete Sturgess from the park’s police unit has told us: “The cyclist involved did not want to proceed to court with any police action. He was happy that the situation did not escalate further.”

We understand the victim’s reluctance to go through the process of court action, which can be lengthy and frustrating, and simply choosing to get on with his life instead. Nevertheless, we reiterate our advice from last month: speak to the police if you find yourself in a similar situation, even if you aren’t able to take photos or video evidence. Such confrontations are recorded in the park’s official statistics, so the more that are reported, the clearer the picture of the dangers that people who choose to cycle in the park sometimes face.

LODGE COMPLAINT

A grandmother has contacted us asking cyclists to show restraint when they see motorists heading to the ballet school at White Lodge. She was dropping off her grandson one Sunday last month when “a very angry male cyclist” yelled and waved his arms as he told them that the road was closed. This is true, but parents and guardians have permission to enter the restricted areas to pick up and drop off their children – as have other authorised motorists, such as those who use the riding stables.

It goes without saying that being the target of this sort of behaviour can be intimidating and frightening. It also does the reputation of cyclists in the park no favours. So if you see anyone berating a motorist in this way, explain to them, if it is safe to do so, why they should behave better. Driver compliance with the restrictions is generally high, and the park’s police regularly deal with those motorists who ignore the signs – so leave the job to them.

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

RPC Bulletin #56, September 2022

Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in September 2022. 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… +++ Contribute to the updated Code of Conduct +++ We film motorist threatening cyclist +++ U-turning Uber driver who caused accident finally fined +++ Monthly event attracts a record 100+ riders +++ Very limited access for cycling during London Duathlon +++ Still time to sign up for market research on the park +++ 

WAIT FOR IT…

Before we begin this bulletin, a brief note on the next one. The long-delayed announcement about the end of the park’s traffic trials, which many think are likely to be made permanent, is expected sometime this month – and as soon as The Royal Parks’ board of trustees makes its decision known, you can expect a bonus RPC bulletin winging its way to your inbox. Then, as usual, you’ll get a newsletter at the start of next month. For now, though, let’s get on with this one!

CODE SHARING

At the end of this email you will find the draft of an update to our Code of Conduct which, as long-time subscribers and supporters will know, promotes safe, courteous cycling in the park. Like the first edition, published in January last year, there is a credit-card sized version for distribution in bike shops and local businesses, and the full text which will appear on our website. 

Here are the key amendments:

• New advice on riding in the centre of the lane and riding two abreast is in line with the recent changes to the Highway Code.

• Guidance on speed now reflects the agreement between The Royal Parks and the parks’ police that the limits in the park regulations do not apply to cyclists, while also acknowledging that speed can be a contributory factor in prosecutions of inconsiderate cycling.

• Riding on the left-hand side of the road now includes a focus on the restricted stretches of road in the park. This comes after some instances of cyclists riding on the right on Broomfield Hill, thinking this would not be an issue as it is closed to traffic, only to find that they were in the path of oncoming emergency vehicles trying to get to incidents.

• The group size of six has changed from a rule to a recommendation. 

• There is now a clearer explanation on the importance of avoiding tailgating motorists.

Please take a look and let us know what you think – the final version will incorporate suggestions, amendments and additions provided by our subscribers.

DU COURSE

Best of luck to everyone taking part in the London Duathlon in Richmond Park on Sunday. Please note that the entire roadway, including the Quietway, will be closed to cyclists (except for those competing) and other road users, as all of it is being used for the event’s three courses.

Unlike last year, you won’t be able to cycle on the Tamsin Trail either. But the park’s management told us they do not mind children and less confident cyclists riding on the tarmac path, which runs from Roehampton Gate to Richmond Gate and between Ham Cross and Kingston Gate, although others should not treat it as an alternative route during the duathlon as the pathway is suited to lower speeds and has smaller capacity than the outer road.

So unless you’re going out for a very gentle pootle or a leisurely ride with your kids, and you don’t mind keeping to the tarmac paths, please avoid the park completely and use alternative routes.

FINE TIME

The longest-running story in this bulletin has finally come to an end. Thirteen months after his actions left a cyclist with a broken scapula, a fractured shoulder and a written-off bike, the driver who ignored the no entry signs at the top of Broomfield Hill before trying to U-turn at the bottom has been fined £214 and given five points on his licence.

Uber driver Mr Usman, 28, of Harrow, west London, was expected to plead not guilty but changed his mind when he finally appeared at Wimbledon magistrates on August 23, having previously managed to get the hearing adjourned twice.

Mr Usman says he had been following directions on his sat nav. The cyclist could not see him trying to U-turn on the blind corner and smashed into his car.

We’re pleased for the victim that the case has concluded. Without going into the details of his impact statement, it is clear that his injuries affected his ability to carry out his normal duties as a father. And the case showed the frightening consequences of a foolish driver treating the park as merely a convenient shortcut – which is one of the reasons why we want to see through traffic removed altogether.

BERK IN A MERC

On Tuesday last week at approximately 4.15pm, we stumbled across a confrontation between a driver of a black Mercedes and a couple of cyclists on the southbound lane of Queen’s Road, approaching Ham Cross.

After we arrived on the scene, we were told the driver had parked in the way of the first cyclist, who was riding on his own, to take a selfie with a deer. The cyclist shouted at him, and the driver gave chase then swerved in front of him. The second cyclist saw what was happening and stopped to intervene.

The driver’s overreaction was apparently so spectacular that a dad walking with his son crossed the road to try to diffuse the situation, and a park groundsman driving past in his truck alerted officers. When we arrived, the driver’s female partner was trying to stop him threatening the second cyclist, while the first was on the phone to the police. Luckily, our bike cam captured this scene, and we have passed the footage on to Sgt Sturgess from the park’s police unit.

The cyclist who called the police seemed dubious that reporting the incident would have any effect, although he didn’t initially realise the confrontation was being filmed. But even if you find yourself in a similar situation and you aren’t able to take photos or video evidence, we would strongly urge you to speak to the police. Confrontations recorded in the park’s official statistics will give a clearer picture of the dangers that people who choose to cycle in the park sometimes face.

JUST A COUPLE OF QUICK QUESTIONS…

An invite to take part in the Royal Parks Panel’s first survey arrived in our inbox last week. There were only two questions. The first was: “What type of activities do you use The Royal Parks for? Or if you don’t use The Royal Parks please tell us why?” And the second: “What type of activities do you use The Royal Parks for? Or if you don’t use The Royal Parks please tell us why?” We anticipate the next survey will be more in-depth!

TRP said there will be further opportunities to take part in polls, focus groups and interviews, and you can still sign up here. The more subscribers taking part, the better, as it will make the people who run the park more aware of cyclists’ perspectives. 

TRP GETS CRACKING

A member of the public has asked us to pass on her thanks to “all you lovely kind cyclists that stopped to help” her little grandson after he came off on one of the cracks in the tarmac on Broomfield Hill on Tuesday. We also passed on the lady’s thanks to the park’s police, who gave her grandson a lift in one of their buggies. Thankfully, the little fella only suffered scrapes and bruises. 

Prior to this accident, we had contacted the park’s management about the cracks, which have probably been caused by the recent dry, hot weather. Then, on Tuesday, while out taking a photo of the damage, we spoke to one of The Royal Parks’ maintenance team who was marking the road for repair. She indicated that they were aiming to get the fixes completed before the duathlon on Sunday – and yesterday the stretch from Robin Hood Gate to Broomfield Hill was closed for repairs at 8am, with the work scheduled for completion by 4pm. Thanks to TRP for getting the work done.

CHAIN DRIVEN

Finally, congratulations to Chain Gang Cyclists, who had their biggest turnout yet for their monthly event in Richmond Park, which attracted more than 100 riders on Saturday. As you can see in these photos of the Bank Holiday Bonanza, CGC is inclusive, diverse and has introduced dozens of cyclists to the enjoyment of group riding. Take a look at Strava for the other rides they’ve got lined up.

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. And don’t forget to have a look at the draft of the new Code of Conduct below⬇︎, and give us your suggestions!

All the best,

Richmond Park Cyclists

***

CODE OF CONDUCT UPDATE – DRAFT

Credit card version:

CROSS CONSENSUS: Pedestrians and horse riders should have priority, so let them cross the road when you see them waiting and it is safe to do so. Stop for deer. NOT SO FAST: Please observe the signposted guidance on speed which is 20mph on the outer roadway and 10mph on the Quietway through the middle of the park MIND THE GAP: Leave a space of at least 1.5m as you overtake. If you are passing a vulnerable road user, try to leave a bigger gap. RISKY BUSINESS: Look behind you before moving left or right. If you need to stop, get off the road. And when a car is in front of you, keep a distance of at least two bike lengths. SIX APPEAL: For safety, we recommend the number of cyclists in a group should be restricted to six. Ride no more than two abreast.

These are our basic guidelines for riding on the park’s roads. For the complete Code, see richmondparkcyclists.org.uk/codeofconduct

Long version:

Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve, and cycling in it is a privilege as well as a pleasure. For many years, the park has been London’s No1 free cycling resource - and the diversity of its cyclists is growing. 

Since the temporary ban on motor vehicles during the first lockdown and the subsequent restrictions on through traffic, many more people have been visiting the park by bike. Some are vulnerable road users, such as children, and the elderly. Many of them will have less confidence on a bike than those who typically cycle in the park. By riding kindly and courteously, you will help to ensure it is a welcoming environment for every type of cyclist and other visitors.

This code is self-policing. If you see a cyclist falling short of it, politely ask them to adjust their behaviour in future. And if you are an experienced cyclist, remember that your good behaviour sets an example for others to follow.

Please obey the Highway Code and respect the police team who look after the park and its visitors. If another road user extends you a courtesy, thank them – they’ll be more likely to do so again. And try not to react discourteously when provoked by other people’s rude or dangerous behaviour – it could cause the incident to escalate and compromise your safety.

Whether young or old, novice or expert, here are our guidelines for safe, enjoyable cycling.

STOPPING AND SLOWING

• Pedestrians have priority everywhere. This policy, which is set out in the park’s transport principles, differs from the Highway Code. It means you should stop when safe to do so if you see someone waiting to cross. At the raised crossings, you should stop for pedestrians. But slow down smoothly and avoid braking hard if there are other cyclists or vehicles close behind you.

• Consider reducing your speed when passing cafes and car parks. It will give you more time to react to the greater number of people, dogs and traffic moving around.

• Be aware of your closing speed. Slow down if necessary when approaching slower-moving road users from behind.

• Look out for horse riders. Provide a polite verbal warning if approaching from behind, slow down when cycling near to them, such as on the Quietway, and stop to let them cross the road if you see them waiting. 

• Deer are wild animals and can be unpredictable. Learn to read their behaviour – are they grazing or do they want to cross? Be ready to stop if you see them at the side of the road or approaching it. The same applies to other wild animals, such as geese, who sometimes wander into the road.

• If you need to stop riding, please get off the road. Staying on it creates a hazard.

SPEED

• The signposted speed advice on the outer roadway is 20mph and it is your guide as a cyclist. Sensible speeds create a more welcoming environment for everyone.

• The signposted speed advice on the Quietway is 10mph and it is also your guide as a cyclist. Please pay special attention and give way to children, walkers and learner cyclists who frequent this mostly car-free area which runs through the centre of the park between Ham Cross and Sheen Cross.

• Never race or time trial. Doing so creates a shorter time for you to react to hazards, less time for others to see you and can frighten the unwary and vulnerable. If you want a less disrupted ride, consider visiting the park when it is quieter.

CARE AND COURTESY

• Always ride in the left-hand lane, as you would on any other road, even in parts of the park which are closed to motor traffic. Riding on the right in restricted areas creates a hazard for oncoming cyclists, and drivers attending incidents and on park business.

• Ride in the centre of your lane when approaching junctions or narrow sections of the road.

• Read the road ahead to anticipate hazards.

• Look behind you before moving left or right.

• Show care when passing. Watch your speed, always overtake on the right (except when filtering in slow-moving traffic) and leave a minimum space of 1.5 metres. 

• Try to leave more room when passing pedestrians, or less experienced cyclists – they can be startled or intimidated even at a safe distance.

• Obey the solid white lines. They are on stretches of road where overtaking is dangerous. Crossing them is outlawed except to pass a stationary road user or anyone moving at 10mph or less.

• Motorists can be frightened too – not because they are concerned you might injure them, but because they fear they could harm you. So don’t tailgate (a distance of two bike lengths from the car in front of you is ideal) and filter carefully and respectfully through traffic so as not to startle. Even if you believe overtaking to be safe, do not overtake if it could alarm the person you are overtaking or oncoming road users.

• If you need to cough, sneeze or blow, check to your side and behind. Use a handkerchief or your hand/sleeve to avoid passing on germs.

• Use lights at night and take care not to dazzle oncoming road users.

GROUPS AND PAIRS

• We recommend restricting group size to six, depending on traffic conditions and the abilities of the individuals to ride compactly and safely in a group. Riding in large groups requires additional skills and makes overtaking challenging – both for you and others trying to pass you.

• Riding two abreast is permitted and safe, particularly in groups or when accompanying children or less experienced riders. Do not ride more than two abreast. 

• Consider riding single file. When riding in groups, be aware of the needs of other road users. Think about opting to ride single file if traffic builds up behind you, particularly when going uphill, and you believe it is safe for that traffic to overtake. If you are not certain that your group can overtake others and leave a 1.5 metre gap, ride in single file.

• Keep it down. Try to use verbal warnings of hazards only when necessary, or use common hand signals. Shouting instructions to others in your group can cause alarm to other road users – especially if they mistakenly think you are addressing them. 

RPC Bulletin #55, August 2022

Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in August 2022. 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… +++ The Royal Parks Panel – give your perspective on the park +++ Return of temporary road closures for children to play +++ A history of opposition to through traffic – and what we can learn from it +++ Latest police stats +++ Rickshaws for Richmond Park? +++

BACK AGAIN?

On Friday, July 29 at around 8.50am on the approach to Colicci, a cyclist spotted a moped with two passengers going very slowly anticlockwise, raising the prospect that armed bike thieves have returned to the park. 

At Sheen Cross, the cyclist turned right to Sheen Gate while the moped rider carried on straight towards Sawyer’s Hill. It could all be perfectly innocent, but we have passed on the details to the park’s police.

There have been increased police patrols since the bike jacking in June, which we detailed in our previous bulletin. Investigations continue. In the meantime, look out for your fellow cyclists in the park, particularly lone riders as they tend to be targeted by this sort of thieves.

SIGN UP AND HELP OUT

There are currently quite a few opportunities to help the cycling community. All of them are well worth considering if you have the time.

• The Royal Parks is looking for visitors aged 18 and over to take part in research on Richmond Park and its other green spaces. We would like as many subscribers as possible to give their views so that the people who run the park are more aware of cyclists’ perspectives. A market research company will send you two surveys per year, each taking just ten minutes to complete, plus invitations to take part in optional activities such as polls, focus groups and interviews. The Royal Parks Panel is online only and TRP says the feedback will help it to create “positive experiences for visitors”. You can sign up here.

• Kingston Council is bringing back road closures which enable children to play safely in the streets where they live. As we reported in December 2019, it was pleasing to see the heavily congested King’s Road, which is frequently a scene of confrontation between people heading to and from the park, transformed into a peaceful oasis for one day a month. If you are a local resident and want to help our pals The Friends Of Kingston Gate make King’s Road a play street again this autumn, or you would like another road closed to allow kids to enjoy themselves, please apply here by Sunday, October 13.

• LimeLight Sports Club, the organiser of The London Duathlon, is asking for volunteers to issue race packs, marshall arrivals, man water stations and distribute post-event products at the race in Richmond Park on Sunday, September 4. You’ll get food and refreshments, a sports cap and a discounted price for an LSC event in 2023. Register here to sign up. 

• Wheels For All, which offers cycling to adults and children who have a disability, is recruiting volunteers for its new project in Kingston. It will start offering sessions in September. Take a look at what the charity does and see if you can be part of it. 

• A few people that we ride with in Richmond Park are taking part in the third annual Black Unity Bike Ride, an inclusive 15-mile event from Leyton to Brockwell Park on Saturday. Have a look at their website if you want to help out, either as a ride marshall or a ground support volunteer. 

A RICH HISTORY

It was a pleasure to finally meet Dr Richard Carter and Richard Evans, two former leading lights of the Friends Of Richmond Park, for a chat at Pembroke Lodge a couple of weeks ago. Dr Carter, the organisation’s former chair, gave us a copy of the Friends’ Manifesto On Traffic In The Park from October 2000, which recommended curbing through traffic, an internal transport system and traffic calming near the gates to make it easier for pedestrians to cross – all of which are remarkably similar to our vision.

The manifesto has not been available online for some years and we had never heard about it until the two Richards, who are both subscribers, got in touch. We’ll put the ten-page document on our website in the near future. In the meantime, here are some fascinating historical facts contained within which show just how consistent the opposition to through traffic has been over the decades – and what lessons Richmond Park Cyclists can draw from the duo’s experiences to strengthen our campaign.

• 1972: The Department of the Environment rejects proposals to reduce traffic in the park made by The Brentford And Chiswick Pedestrians’ Group as “too far-reaching”. The DoE said the park’s authorities would consider “closing certain gates and further sections of roads to traffic” – but nothing came of it.

• 1993: The Government sets up The Royal Parks Agency, as The Royal Parks was then known. A report by consultants Halcrow-Fox for the Department of Transport recommended selected road closures. Again, no action was taken.

• 1996: The Royal Parks Review, chaired by former National Trust chair Dame Jennifer Jenkins, describes motor traffic as a “cordon of steel” dividing the central wilderness area from the remaining acres. Making a strong case for traffic restrictions, the report said: “This stretch of countryside, itself quite extraordinary within a world city, is undermined by noise, pollution, congestion and danger from cars, all aspects of the surrounding great city which most visitors have come to escape.” 

• 1998: The Royal Parks Review concluded that there was inadequate information to make specific recommendations, so the RPA commissioned a report by Peter Brett Associates. It showed, for the first time, that through traffic constitutes a massive proportion of the motor vehicles in the park – between 94 and 98 per cent at weekday peak periods and 80 per cent at weekends. (TRP’s traffic report in March 2017, which came before the current Movement Strategy to recalibrate the use of roads in the Royal Parks, produced similar results – depending on the time of day, between 68 and 91 per cent of motor vehicles in Richmond Park are using it as a shortcut.) The consultancy’s report recommended closing gates, the closure of individual road links, one-way circulation and road pricing.

• 1999: The Richmond Park Forum is set up by Kingston, Wandsworth and Richmond councils in response to the PBA report. Sadly, as the Friends’ manifesto states, it had “effectively only one aim: opposition to road closures in the park”.

One of the charges levelled at us and other cycling advocacy groups is that we only want to remove through traffic so that we can have the roadway all to ourselves, which of course is untrue. So it is encouraging to learn that there have been FOUR recommendations to tackle the traffic issue, and none of them have come from cycling groups (indeed, the Friends’ manifesto does not mention cyclists at all). Over a period of 40 years, it is clear that many have wanted what you and ourselves want: a more tranquil and pleasant Richmond Park for everyone which can be delivered by the removal of through traffic.

And, of course, times change. Active travel, safe commuting routes for cycling, equality of access to roads, less reliance on cars, healthier lifestyles and traffic evaporation – all these factors have become stronger arguments for ending through traffic since the manifesto was published more than 20 years ago.

But more importantly, the two Richards were elected to the committee of the Friends – then, as now, probably the most influential pressure group connected to the park – and subsequently produced its manifesto. As mentioned in our previous two bulletins, today’s leadership of the Friends is rather more reticent to state where it stands on dealing with through traffic. We remain hopeful that once TRP makes its announcement on the current trials in the autumn, FRP will begin to create a road policy setting out a vision for the movement of vehicles and people in the park. But if it does not, perhaps encouraging our subscribers to join the Friends and democratically pushing for change on this issue might be an effective option. We shall see.

INCIDENTS, ACCIDENTS, FINES AND CRIMES

Time for a rundown of the latest report from the park’s police. For newer subscribers, these reports are presented every quarter-year to the park’s Police Panel and list every incident officers attended, as well as any arrests, fines and verbal warnings. 

We publish details of each one after we have attended the Police Panel. The priorities for the police over the next three months, as agreed by the panel when it met three weeks ago, are motor vehicle speed, wildlife protection and trade vehicles. 

• As reported in the last RPC bulletin, there was another bike-jacking carried out by a pair on a moped. The pillion passenger jumped off and showed the cyclist what appeared to be a large knife. After the victim threw his bike to the ground, the pair picked it up and rode off. The incident took place near Ladderstile Gate, going towards Dark Hill, on Thursday, June 2 at 4.25pm. If you have any information please call 101 and quote crime reference 0406215/22. The police have increased visible patrols and once again involved Operation Venice, the specially trained Met unit that uses tactical force to disable moped related crime.

• A bike which had been locked outside Colicci was stolen while the owner went for a walk on May 5. 

• There were 55 drivers fined or warned for excessive speed, 36 for driving around the barriers, eight charged for driving without due care and attention or driving to endanger any person, and six for having no insurance.  Additionally, 156 motorists were warned or fined for driving an unauthorised trade vehicle in the park.

• The police warned 177 cyclists for venturing off track and three were fined.

There were 11 cycling accidents reported. Of the six that involved another party, four were treated as serious collisions:

• On April 2 near the ballet school, a stag being chased by a dog tried to jump over a cyclist, knocking him into another rider. He suffered cuts to his elbow as well as pain in his buttocks and hip.

• A driver stopped on Sawyer’s Hill on 20 April due to deer in the road. A cyclist went into the rear of the car. Their injuries were cuts to their fingers and reddened knee cap.

• A cyclist dropped an item on Sawyer’s Hill on 24 April. When they stopped suddenly to pick it up, another rider went into his bike from behind, sending the first cyclist over the handlebars, suffering possible broken ribs.

• On May 1, a cyclist going up Broomfield Hill on the wrong side of the road was left with broken ribs after being hit by two riders descending it. One of the pair had grazes and cuts, the other memory loss, bruises and scrapes.

’SHAW ANSWER

What form of alternative transport operating across the park could be offered to those who are unable to participate in active travel? Sarah Olney, the Lib Dem MP for Richmond Park, suggests the answer could be rickshaws.

Sarah mentioned in her newsletter a couple of weeks ago that she has met with Transport Minister Judy Harrison to discuss regulating the vehicles, sometimes referred to as pedicabs, which are a common sight in central London. They are unregulated due to a legal anomaly, which means they are not insured and the price of fares is often inconsistent.  

Safe, legal, pedal-powered cabs for park visitors who wish to explore another part of the park or cannot easily transition to cycling is a concept which should be explored. If the government progresses with regulation, the park’s management should examine the practical issues, in particular whether sections of the Quietway are too narrow to accommodate the vehicles alongside cyclists and pedestrians, and if they need  electric motor assistance to navigate the hills. But it’s a helpful idea, and we hope something comes of it.

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