Open land and biodiversity

The planning system places an emphasis on undertaking research to inform planning policies. We have prepared and commissioned a number of studies which provide advice and information on open land and biodiversity.

Open land

We have commissioned Arup to undertake a boroughwide Open Land Review (Green Belt, Metropolitan Open Land (MOL), Local Green Space (LGS) and Other Open Land of Townscape Importance (OOLTI)) 2021. The report is to inform the new Local Plan.

• Green Belt, MOL, LGS and OOLTI Review (overarching report) (2021) (pdf, 23.1 MB)
• Green Belt Assessment Annex Report (detailed assessment) (2021) (pdf, 922 KB)
• Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) Review Annex Report (detailed assessment) (2021) (pdf, 132 MB) Very large file
• Local Green Space (LGS) Assessment Annex Report (detailed assessment) (2021) (pdf, 16.3 MB)
• Other Open Land of Townscape Importance (OOLTI) Review Annex Report (detailed assessment (2021) (pdf, 17.9 MB)

Following the publication of these reports, minor clarifications have been made to the final overarching report and the MOL Review Annex Report, through the Errata Report (2023) (pdf, 210 KB). These are to the MOL assessment methodology and a limited number of minor technical corrections to MOL parcel assessments, but the overall results of the assessment remain unchanged.

We have produced a report on the assessment of the proposed Local Green Space Sites (pdf, 1.1 MB) in the new Local Plan.

Previous studies

View earlier research relating to open land:

• Open Land Review of Metropolitan Open Land and Other Open Land of Townscape Importance Designation (2006)

Biodiversity

We have appointed Salix Ecology to carry out a comprehensive review of sites designated for nature conservation importance in the borough. The review will inform the new Local Plan. The review was completed in two surveys in 2021 and 2022.

• Review of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation Volume 1 Report (2021) (pdf, 44.1 MB)
• Review of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation Volume 2 Supporting Information (2021) (pdf, 38.8 MB)
• Addendum to the Review of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (16 December 2021) (pdf, 83 KB)
• Identifying Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation Volume 1 Report (2022) (pdf, 14.0 MB)
• Identifying Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation Volume 2 Supporting Information (2022) (pdf, 11.3 MB)

There remain pending surveys on a small number of designated and candidate sites. Further work has been completed by Salix Ecology:

• Identifying Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation in Richmond upon Thames 2023 Update (September 2023)
• Letter re Walk-over surveys of Hampton Court Green and York House Gardens (October 2023)

Previous studies

View earlier research relating to biodiversity:

• Habitat survey of proposed Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (and other) 2016 (pdf, 3.6 MB)

You can also view more details about our local habitats including the Richmond Biodiversity Action Plan on our nature conservation page.