Richmond Council has announced plans to lease Pensford Field to mental health charity Dose of Nature (DoN) for 10 years, as the battle over the site continues.

While the Council is now undertaking a formal public process to lease Pensford Field to DoN, this marks a U-turn from its previous decision to terminate PFET's lease early without notice — a move it has reconsidered following months of campaigning by local groups and residents.

According to a draft lease published on 25 April, the field must remain a nature reserve, open to both people with mental health needs and the general public for wellbeing purposes.

The lease also states that community groups and residents (listed in the draft) will still be permitted to use the field through a booking system, subject to a fee.

Dose of Nature will be required to submit an annual plan to the Council outlining how it intends to maintain the field and what activities it plans to host.

However, current leaseholders Pensford Field Environmental Trust (PFET) have criticised the lease, claiming it does not require DoN to allow daily public access in the same way PFET currently does.

Chair of PFET, Sarah Atkins said: "We do not yet know how this loss of status as an open space affects planning decisions and whether the field will maintain its status as being equivalent to Green Belt in the Local Plan which the Council is about to adopt.

"We will ask the Council to explain the impact.

"A further problem the Council faces is how can it genuinely consider objections when it has so clearly made up its mind in public and took pre-emptive action to terminate our lease last September?

"The Council is supposed to maintain an open mind when considering objections."

A Richmond Council spokesperson told Richmond Nub News: "The Council is currently undertaking a formal statutory process to seek the community's views on the proposed future use of Pensford Field.

"All feedback received will be carefully considered before any decisions are made, and the outcome will be published in due course.

"We remain committed to working with Dose of Nature and the Pensford Field Environmental Trust to support long-term public access to the site, while ensuring it is managed in a way that reflects the interests of all stakeholders."

The Council are giving residents a chance to object or share their concerns by post (address found here) or by email to [email protected] before 22 May 2025.

All the objections will be reviewed and discussed at a Council meeting on 24 June 2025.

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