Parks and Reserves

The Parks Service of the Velocity Interoperability Network manages twelve sites: six parks and six reserves, extending to 3,094 hectares. Each is entered in the register below, which records its name, its type, its area in hectares, the area team responsible for it and the arrangements under which it may be visited. The register is maintained by the Service and amended as sites are added or their arrangements change.

Every site in the register is open from 6 September 2026. Opening hours, visitor centres and the rules that apply at every site are set out on the Visiting page. Sites are grouped into three area teams, Central, Northern and Coastal, each led by a senior ranger; the teams are described on the About page.

The sites by type. The register groups the sites into four kinds, each managed for a different purpose.

Urban parks

Central Exchange Gardens and Southbank Riverside Park lie within the principal sites of the Network and are the most visited of the Service's sites. They are enclosed, with gates locked at dusk, and have lawns, formal planting, play areas and, at Southbank, a river frontage with a designated barbecue area.

Commons, country and forest parks

Northgate Common, Eastfield Meadows, Westbrook Woods and Ashcombe Forest are open at all times. Eastfield Meadows is a country park of hay meadow and hedgerow with a ranger station; Westbrook Woods and Ashcombe Forest are working woodlands with surfaced tracks for walking and cycling. Ashcombe Forest has the Service's principal visitor centre and its only camping site.

Nature reserves

Meridian Marsh, Longwater Wetland Reserve, Highfold Ridge and Kestrel Heath are managed first for their habitats and species, and visitor access is arranged accordingly: by boardwalk at Meridian Marsh, by marked paths and hides at Longwater, by marked paths on Highfold Ridge, and by the perimeter path alone at Kestrel Heath between March and July.

Geological and coastal reserves

Fennimore Quarry preserves a sequence of exposed rock faces and fossil beds and is visited by guided tour only, for the safety of visitors and the protection of the sections. Saltings Shore Reserve protects saltmarsh, shingle and dune along the coast; its foreshore is covered at high tide and visitors should consult the tide tables posted at the car park.

Facilities. Across the twelve sites the Service maintains 810 car parking spaces, three visitor centres and 99.5 kilometres of waymarked routes. Toilets are open during car park hours. Where a site has no car park, the nearest public car park is signposted from the entrance.

The reserves are managed under a seasonal programme of habitat work described on the Conservation page. Visits to each site are counted and published quarterly on the Statistics page. Corrections to an entry in the register, and enquiries about a site, may be sent to contact@parks.gov.vin.