The Gunnersbury Museum and Park Development Trust is a charity responsible for managing the park, gardens, museum, and educational services. Its role is also to support the preservation of the museum collections and historic buildings; fundraising and building partnerships to support this work.

Gunnersbury Estate (2026) CIC is a Community Interest Company and a trading subsidiary of the Trust.

Read more about our team.

In 2024 Gunnersbury Park Estate spent £2.3 million running the park and museum though we have aspirations of investing more in the park.

The major outstanding works will require capital funding in the order of £30-35 million.

Our income streams include:

• Ealing and Hounslow Councils contribution of £600,000 annually.
• Grants from organisations like the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
• Revenue from ticketed concerts held in the park.
• Donations and sponsorships from individuals and businesses.
• Income from facility rentals for private events and activities.
• Fees from parking and other on-site services.

We have looked into the cost of daily opening and closing of the gates at night. Recent quotes have costed this service in the region of £30,000 per annum, subject to annual increases. This figure does not include costs for essential repairs and maintenance to our gates which would need to be completed before we could consider daily opening and closing. For example, the vehicle gate at the entrance leading to the museum needs repair works of over £75,000 before it can be safely operated. The cost of repairing and maintaining Grade II* listed infrastructure is high because it requires specialist contractors to undertake the work. We have a number of entrances and exits into and out of the park that we inherited in various states of disrepair, and to open and close them all on a daily basis would incur additional damage and hence more cost.

We do not currently have the funds to progress with this project at this time, since we have a number of higher priority repairs and maintenance issues which we need to deal with. To keep our visitors and neighbours safe we employ Park Guard, who patrol the area in the evenings. They provide a reassuring uniformed presence in the park who can offer assistance if needed, in addition to our own team who are on-site during the day.

After the fire in 2020, we had to rebuild the café building that many park users remember. As a result of insurance, the new building is currently without full café fittings. We are looking for new ways to use the building in the short term, whilst we work with the community to determine its best use long-term. Currently in the park there are still stands where coffee can be purchased and places to sit inside.

We work closely with Historic England to manage and protect our listed buildings. As a Grade II* registered park Gunnersbury is in the top 30% nationally of registered parks and gardens. With 22 Listed Buildings and structures at Grade II or Grade II* listed status, we are in the top 10% nationally of sites of listed buildings – nine of our structures remain on the national ‘At Risk’ register.

You can find out more about how to get involved with Gunnersbury Park & Museum here. 

We are working with independent experts, such as Greengage and Oakshire Environmental, to review ecological best practice and carry out ongoing soil testing. With the advice of these experts Gunnersbury Park is aiming to balance sustainable event practices, regular community use, and our conservation goals. You can read the results of the most recent consultations here and here.

We want to ensure the park’s rich biodiversity for the future by developing a management plan to protect and enhance the different habitats onsite woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands. By caring for the variety of native plants within the park, we will support essential resources for the insects, birds, and mammals that call Gunnersbury Park home, as well as connecting people with nature.

The park is home to several bird species such as thrushes, finches, and sparrows. It is also a habitat for hedgehogs and bats, which are protected under UK and EU wildlife conservation laws. We will protect these habitats by maintaining natural areas with native trees and shrubs through management to be developed in line with best practice, and already minimise the use of pesticides so as not to disrupt the ecological balance.

The animals that live in Gunnersbury Park are urban-dwelling species who are more accustomed to living near human activity than their more rurally located relatives. Gunnersbury Park still carefully considers the needs of the birds, bats, and small mammals that live in the park by restricting noise and light pollution during concert events to short periods, primarily during the day, to reduce the impact on species like bats and hedgehogs. We are also committed to enhancing and creating habitats in the park for wildlife present and already have in place protective measures, like designated pathways, to conserve native trees and flowers.

Gunnersbury Park is home to several rare and protected species. Within the park you can find bats such as the common pipistrelle and soprano pipistrelle, which are protected under UK and EU law. Hedgehogs, which are considered a species of conservation concern, can be spotted in the park along with the endangered stag beetle.

Approximately ten percent of our 186 acres is used as the main event space for concerts.

In 2024, Gunnersbury Park is hosting 10 live music events. There are 53 days allocated for build and breakdown this year.

Our Large and Special events are held under the licence granted by the council. That licence states that Large Concerts are only permitted on a maximum of 14 days per calendar year and Special Events are restricted to a maximum of four events each calendar year, subject to a maximum of 14 days. When considering proposals for concerts, we always prioritise those which can provide clear benefits for park users alongside income generation.

The total revenue generated from concerts in 2023 is subject to audit, but provisional gross income is £730,000.

One hundred percent of the income generated from concerts is reinvested into the park and museum. This includes funding for maintenance and conservation of heritage buildings, community & educational programmes, and growing & nurturing the park’s natural habitats.

The concert area in Gunnersbury Park has been carefully chosen to avoid sensitive habitats. The concerts are scheduled in such a way to minimise disturbance to wildlife. Events occur during only 5% of the period April – September - the main bird nesting season and bat activity period - and mainly during the day to reduce the effects on nocturnal species. Temporary fencing is used to protect areas with delicate plant life, and designated pathways are established to avoid soil compaction and damage to root systems. You can read more in our latest report here.

After each event, Gunnersbury Park undertakes a thorough restoration process, this includes soil aeration, reseeding grass areas, repairing any damage to pathways, and ensuring that all litter and temporary structures are removed promptly. Event organisers clean up after the event and any damage caused is charged back to them.

Gunnersbury has engaged Vanguardia noise management specialists to work alongside event organisers and their sound experts to provide an extra layer of monitoring and response.

We strategically position the concert stages and PA systems so that noise is minimised to nearby residents, with the setup designed to reduce sound levels for those closest to the park. The advanced PA systems focus sound within the audience area, and by using techniques like delay stacks we are able to limit noise spillover beyond the park's boundaries.

Whilst there are things out of our control, such as wind speed and direction that can affect how sound travels, we have taken every measure to ensure that sound does not exceed 75dB, in line with our premises licence.