Penton Hook Island closure

Penton Hook Island remains closed to the public.

Unfortunately, due to scale and complexity of the work required to clear the diseased and dangerous trees from the island, we have had to keep the island closed.

We continue to work to resolve this issue as quickly as we can. However, Ash dieback rots the tree from inside, making the felling of these trees extremely unpredictable. This poses a risk to the chainsaw operator and the surrounding environment and so we must use specialist mechanical equipment, which will have to be brought to site by river. The associated enabling works to the island bank, as well as the constraints brought about by bird next season (March – September), further increase the complexity of the work.

We are working closely with partners to explore funding options and hope to be able to arrange a public engagement event in Spring 2026 to update the local community of our overall management plan for the island.

Keeping the public safe is one of our priorities and we apologise for any inconvenience this closure may be causing. We know the importance of this site to the local community, and we are committed to keeping everyone updated on our progress.