Gunnersbury Park Announce Plan To Impose Parking Charges

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Consultation being held on introduction of £1 per hour fee

Gunnersbury Park car park

October 18, 2019

Parking charges look set to be introduced at Gunnersbury Park after an announcement that a consultation is to be held on the matter.

Gunnersbury Estate (2026) CIC is proposing to introduce charges early next year. They say the money raised will raise much needed funds for the maintenance and ongoing improvement of the park, museum and its services.

They are proposing a rate of £1 per hour with charges to apply whenever the park is open.

They also believe that charges will ensure parking is available to visitors to the estate and spaces are not taken up by commuters or unlicensed commercial users. The car park is due to be extended with the extra spaces that were given permission when the sports hub was approved.

They say the investment in the park over the last few years, kick-started by Heritage Lottery funding, has meant the cost of running the estate will be higher than it was in the past. They need to raise to raise £2m a year in income by 2022 to meet these management and maintenance costs.

Although the park receives funding each year from both Hounslow and Ealing Council, the management say this is currently not enough to fund the entire estate and the amount given is also set to decline substantially over the coming years.

The CIC is seeking to create a broad range of income sources in order to give the estate a firm financial footing, including via grants, the onsite café, shop, commercial tenants and by holding weddings, filming and major public events. All revenue raised from car parking charges - as with all income generated by the CIC - would be ringfenced to be spent only at Gunnersbury Park and Museum.

David Bowler, CEO of Gunnersbury Estate (2026) CIC says “We appreciate that introducing car parking charges is a substantial change to the way the estate here has been operated in the past but feel that this is an important step in helping to secure Gunnersbury’s financial future. We are keen to hear what our visitors and local residents think of the proposals and how we could best implement the change. We would encourage everyone to complete our consultation survey which runs until 4 November”.

The introduction of car parking charges has been part of the long-term plan for Gunnersbury for some time and was included within the masterplan for the site adopted by Ealing and Hounslow Councils in 2011.

Further information on the proposals, including a link to the public consultation survey.

You can also pick up paper copies of all the documents from the museum reception.

Gunnersbury Estate (2026) CIC is a not for profit organisation that manages Gunnersbury Park and Museum on a long lease from Ealing and Hounslow Councils.