Councillors are asked on 18 November to make the riverside section of Crane Park a Local Nature Reserve. The status would stop any charge for public entry.

Part of Crane Park in Twickenham is set to become a Local Nature Reserve. Richmond Council’s Environment, Sustainability, Culture and Sports Committee is asked to agree the designation when it meets on Wednesday 18 November.

The proposal is in a report to the committee titled “A wilder Richmond”. Officers recommend it over two alternatives: carrying on without the status, or putting the decision off for more talks. They say delay would hold back formal recognition “without any identified operational, legal or financial benefit”.

Which part of the park

The map in the report shows a strip along the north bank of the River Crane. It runs from Hanworth Road in the west to the Great Chertsey Road in the east, backing onto Elleman Avenue. It takes in the Shot Tower.

Map of Crane Park with the proposed Local Nature Reserve shaded dark green: a strip along the north bank of the River Crane from Hanworth Road to Great Chertsey Road, behind Elleman Avenue, including the Shot Tower. Crane Park Island, run by the London Wildlife Trust, sits just south of it.
The section proposed as a Local Nature Reserve, shaded. Map: Richmond Council, Appendix 2 to the committee report

The grass around the Shot Tower and other small structures would be left out of the reserve. Crane Park Island, next to it, is managed separately by the London Wildlife Trust.

Why Crane Park

The gunpowder mill on the site closed about a century ago. Since then the park has become “a haven for people and wildlife”, the report says. Volunteers have carried out conservation work and recorded the wildlife there since at least the 1980s.

River restoration has largely brought back the Crane’s natural flow and ecology, after earlier work deepened, widened and straightened it. Water voles have been reintroduced on the river.

The push for the status came from local groups, including Friends of the River Crane Environment (FORCE). They want the community’s long work on the park recognised, according to the report.

What the status would change

A Local Nature Reserve is a legal designation made by the council and recorded by Natural England. The report’s appendix sets out what it would mean for Crane Park:

  • Free entry is protected. The council could not charge the public to use the reserve. Buildings could still be leased privately, as long as public access to them stays free.
  • Planning protection. Policy 39 of the Richmond Local Plan says wildlife in and next to Local Nature Reserves will be protected from inappropriate development.
  • A management plan. The council must keep an up-to-date plan for the reserve and offer volunteers a part in looking after it.
  • Byelaws. The council could adopt byelaws specific to the reserve.
  • No new cost. The designation can be done in house, and day-to-day management would not change.

The council would talk to FORCE and the London Wildlife Trust as it draws up the designation. It would then publish a declaration and send it to Natural England.

Money for future work

The report is blunt that new projects depend on grants. Work beyond routine upkeep at any of the council’s nature sites will only go ahead where outside funding covers “a very significant proportion” of the cost.

The council has secured £600,000 in external funding for its nature sites since 2021, the report says. It applied for a further £130,000 in 2026, mostly for river restoration. Officers say reserve status could make it easier to win grants for Crane Park, but would not guarantee them.

The council manages 34 nature conservation sites, five islands and 21km of towpath across the borough, the report adds.

What it means for you

Nothing changes on the ground for people who walk, run or visit the Shot Tower. The difference is long term: the riverside would carry a legal nature designation, stronger planning protection and a bar on charging the public to enter.

The committee papers and a webcast link are on the meeting page.

Sources