HyPER attended the Royal Parks stakeholder meeting on Thursday 19th November. This is an opportunity for the Royal Parks to inform HyPER and its members of news regarding Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, and is also an opportunity to provide feedback regarding residents’ questions and any concerns.
Policing Update
The meeting started with a briefing from the outgoing superintendent of the Parks Police, Superintendent Owen Renowden. Owen reiterated the amount of work that has been undertaken to ensure a smooth transition as possible from the dedicated Royal Parks policing unit to the replacement of their duties by local ward police teams. Also present at the meeting were the 2 police inspectors who have now assumed responsibilities as part of these ward teams. The Old Police House is now the new home for these teams, meaning that at a minimum the new police officers stationed there are walking into and out of the park whilst attending other areas they are policing.
By the end of the year, it is expected that all 14 additional police officers will be in post, bolstering the ward teams for their larger areas of responsibility. There has been a recognition that it is the central parks that will require additional policing resource, and this has been reflected in these new officers. Other activities to facilitate a smooth handover have included additional training for telephone call handlers, such as the colloquial names for areas of the parks, as well as provision of the same maps to the handers that park users will likely be using. The Royal Parks have also created a new position of Senior Security Advisor.
General Royal Parks Update
We heard from the Director of Parks, Darren Share, who gave a high level overview of the organisation as a whole. There is a quite a lot of change at board level: a new Board Chair is expected to be in place early next year, whilst 4 trustees are up for renewal with interviews taking place within DCMS. In addition, the replacement or renewal of the contract of the Royal Parks Charity for the operation of the parks (on behalf of DCMS) is currently being looked at, with the current 10 year arrangement coming to an end in 2027.
Hyde Park Update
Jason Taylor, the manager of Hyde Park gave his update.
- This year’s BST concerts were very successful, possibly the best yet despite the cancellation of the very final event. The aim will continue to be to minimise the impact of these events as much as possible for other park users and local residents.
- Swim Serpentine was another successful event with the blue algae clearing just in time for the race to take place.
- The veteran car rally held its annual event, this time using South Carriage Drive which is expected to be its permanent home in future years.
- Winter Wonderland has just opened, with the start of a new 8 year contract for its operation. The project continues to investigate provision of electricity directly to the parade ground rather than requiring generators.
- The plans to move of the Byron statue from Park Lane to Victoria Gate are ongoing although taking longer than anticipated.
- Works will soon be starting on improving the junction of South Carriage Drive and Park Lane in order to better connect the cycle lane and improve the pedestrian experience at those gates (once implemented this will be a 6 month trial).
- The Serpentine Bridge repairs will soon commence which are taking place concurrently to the bridge’s 4-year inspections.
- A new contract for the Lido Cafe starts in January.
- A project to improve the water quality of the Serpentine continues, which as a pond with mainly static water has problems with excessive nitrates which then leads to blue algae growing (although on the flip side we heard that such an arrangement does lead to less silt being deposited). The excessive nitrates are caused mainly by birds, in particular the feeding of them by the public. A specialist team has been brought in and a number of avenues are being investigated including using a special clay to absorb the additional nutrients as well as better aeration and consideration of softening the edges of the water body. Actions that have already been taken to date have made some improvements, including a public awareness campaign not to feed the birds.
- Finally a new planting trial is being performed in the Rose Garden for the winter, which is hoped to provide additional flowering during the winter, enabled by the later frosts that now tend to happen.
Kensington Gardens Update
Andy Williams, the manager of Kensington Gardens gave his update. The park is currently the beneficiary of new funding, which will see the installation of 23 new noticeboards and new maps. A new children’s trail is being considered as part of the new Interpretation Strategy which will include new sculptures for children to explore. The Diana Playground is now being refurbished and is expected to reopen in spring/summer 2026, which will include a new galleon and water feature.
HyPER Feedback
HyPER gave a number of items of feedback on behalf of members including:
- The possibility of better enforcement for parking on the yellow-hashed area of the Triangle Car Park at the end of Serpentine Road. During the summer this area gets quite congested with large people carriers that are collecting guests. Jason Taylor, the manager of Hyde Park, stated that they will investigate better monitoring of this next summer
- More information on the ongoing works to improve the quality of the water in the Serpentine. This information is detailed in the Hyde Park section above
- A follow-up on HyPER’s previous feedback regarding cash payments in the kiosks in the parks. As we explained, the current policy of refusing cash payments conflicts with the Royal Parks strategic directive of making the parks a welcoming place: the Treasury Select Committee’s recent investigation identified many different groups that find such policies difficult including the disabled, elderly, those poorer and those with learning difficulties. Staff were grateful for this feedback and will stated that they will investigate these issues further.
The Royal Parks stakeholder meetings happen every 6 months. If you have any items that you would like us to bring up at the next meeting then please let us know.