Cllr. Hamish Pollock reports about the new Nature Reserve Fence: “To safeguard the important nature reserve in Warren Park which is off King’s Lane, Sutton (in Carshalton Central neighbourhood, though) and prior to the installation of the fencing the Council put up site notices that informed site users about our intentions, which included impressions how the fencing would look like. This type of fencing was chosen, so that no dog fouling occurs in areas where responsible dog owners would not be able to pick up the dog mess.” 

Nature Reserve Fence in Warren Park facing the playground

Cllr. Jill Whitehead who chairs the Council’s Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee says: ” The Council opened the wildlife area to the public to provide Access to Nature in the local area of Warren Park, in line with London Planning policies. The Council also has the obligation to maintain the site as nature conservation site and the fencing is intended to stop the current decline of the chalk grassland whilst continuing to provide an accessible nature site. There is already a successful recovery of the grassland visible.

Nature Reserve Fence running parallel with the railway

Cllr. Alan Salter says: “The residents have asked for more dog bins. New dog bins were installed in Warren Park recently. These are placed to be easily accessible when leaving the park. An additional bin at the far end of the park as suggested by local residents would create difficulties emptying as the bags tend to break when moved over a long distances. It is unlikely that people who do not clean up after their dog will be encouraged to do so with an additional bin. Self closing gates have been queried by some residents: Self closing gates are generally only used on children’s playgrounds as safety guidelines suggest, and in those instances gates always open outwards as they are designed to stop dogs getting in rather than children getting out, as the gates are not a substitute for parental control. The usual way for stopping people running into roads at entrances etc. is by way of a highways barrier. Additional dog bins and installation of new self closing gates could be provided at the park but there would be a cost to providing this as well as an ongoing maintenance requirement.

Warren Park's playground with state of the art play equipment installed in recent years

Please let us know if you have any local concerns about Warren Park or other parks and open spaces in the borough.