Home Leisure and culture Parks and open spaces Parks & Nature Conservation
Opportunity for ice cream and mobile café concessions in parks

We have a great opportunity for local businesses to trade in our parks for the summer season in 2023.

We are seeking to license ice cream vans and mobile café operators at fixed pitches.

This is open to vendors who have Public Liability Insurance and Food Hygiene Certificate.

If you are interested in applying, please contact parks@towerhamlets.gov.uk


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Nature conservation

Parks in Tower Hamlets perform an essential role in nature conservation by providing habitats for wildlife. Getting involved with conservation work, such as creating new wildlife habitats, can be great fun and has many physical and psychological health benefits.

Download our latest Tower Habitats Newsflash

The borough has two local nature reserves Mudchute Park and Farm  and Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

Other parks that have been designed or developed with nature conservation and biodiversity value in mind include Mile End Park, Victoria Park, Wapping Woods, Kind Edward Memorial Park and Weavers Fields. These reserves and parks are a haven for wildlife and also serve as a location for local volunteers to be trained and develop skills in conservation.

Biodiversity enhancements are also taking place in many more of the borough’s parks in addition to those mentioned above.  These enhancements range from habitat creation projects such as establishing:

  • wildflower meadows
  • hedgerows
  • ponds and
  • new copses / wooded areas.

Where possible the council is also shifting to more “wildlife friendly” styles of landscape management such as:

  • allowing grass to grow so that meadows are formed naturally
  • managing woodland to encourage a greater diversity of animal and plant species and establishing woodland walks
  • creating log piles or simply leaving dead wood as a habitat for insects and fungi.

The council is a member of the Tower Habitat Partnership which promotes biodiversity in the borough and is also responsible for the delivery of the Tower Hamlets Biodiversity Action Plan. The Local Biodiversity Action Plan was adopted on 1 October, outlines the council’s aims and objectives for biodiversity.

Local Biodiversity Action Plan

Read the current LBAP

Woodland Walks

A self-guided walk is available for the nature trail in Weavers Fields.  Please contact us at park.projects@towerhamlets.gov.uk if you would like a copy.

 

You can be involved in improvements to the borough’s parks and open spaces, helping to make them better places for the community. Wherever possible we will consult and engage with local people in future proposals.

As well as letting us know your views, you may wish to join one of the many community organisations that are working with the council to provide better parks and services.

The council continues to develop strong partnerships with a wide range of community groups and organisations including city farms, charities, environmental groups and Parks Friends Groups. There are opportunities to get ‘hands on’ experience of planting and looking after plants, as well as maintaining and improving spaces.