Colne Valley Regional Park
Act now to secure its legacy and potential!
• CVRP covers 100 square kilometres
• 10 million people live within 15 kilometres
CVRP attracts 2 million visitors a year from London, Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and further afield.
With its wildlife habitats, rivers and water bodies, recreation routes, farmland and historic settlements – CVRP provides accessible countryside for London and the western Home Counties.
As the climate and biodiversity crisis deepens, alongside the need to support people’s mental and physical health and wellbeing, CVRP is more important than ever.
But as this story map shows, while it has a great legacy and enormous potential, CVRP is in serious decline, due to pollution, development pressures, fragmentation of habitats, lack of adequate protection and severe underfunding.
CVRP today – features and benefits
A park for climate resilience, carbon off-setting and a cool, green and blue, tranquil retreat from the urban heat.
A nature park:
• Internationally and nationally important habitats
• Protected bird species
• Ancient woodlands
• Very rare chalk streams
A water park, conserving water supplies, improving water quality, managing flooding:
• 200km of river and canals
• 75 lakes and reservoirs
A park for people, providing massive health and wellbeing benefits:
• 5 country parks and visitor centres
• 8 golf courses
• 60 fishing lakes
• 200km of public rights of way, including London Orbital
• National Cycle Network
• 2 million visits per year
• A green lung for people to exercise and experience nature
A living history park:
• 300 archaeological sites - from Palaeolithic to Medieval
• 12 conservation areas
• Industrial heritage including the Grand Union Canal
• 200 years of gravel extraction to build major infrastructure, including the old Wembley Stadium
Multifunctional countryside on London’s doorstep (25 minutes from central London by train).
CVRP is a natural capital bank worth many £billions – a critical element of London’s green infrastructure!
CVRP – current pressures and challenges
Current Green Belt policy and the use of ‘special circumstances’ has resulted in inappropriate and damaging development. The integrity and value of CVRP park is at a tipping point.
Key impacts of development include:
• Landscape and visual degradation • Fragmentation of habitat and rights of way networks • Pollution and blight • Lost opportunities for countryside connectivity
CVRP also struggles with limited funds for management and maintenance in the face of urban fringe pressures.
The Future of CVRP is in your hands!
Proposed path to a secure and sustainable future for CVRP:
• Business as usual is not an option.
• Address loopholes in national planning policy that let major development through without strategic improvement to our Green Belt.
• CVRP needs to be recognised and positively supported in Local Plans and the new London Plan and also in emerging Local Nature Recovery Strategies – with the aim of both protecting the existing park and identifying opportunities to enhance and extend it so that it provides even greater benefits for people and nature.
• CVRP should be recognised as a potential forerunner of positive planning and management of Green Belt land to achieve multiple benefits – a regional park approach for others to follow.
• Increased capital and revenue funding is required, from both public and private sectors, to improve facilities and connectivity.
Without urgent action the legacy and benefits of the CVRP could be lost. Please get in touch to discuss how you can make the difference.
Contact: enquiry@colnevalleypark.org.uk
"The Colne Valley Regional Park offers a fantastic opportunity to secure brilliant outcomes for people and nature. Right on the doorstep of London, it is uniquely positioned to better connect millions of people with the wonders of nature."
- Allison Potts, Natural England Thames Solent Area Manager
