The Colne Valley Regional Park is of parks, green spaces and reservoirs alongside the often multi-channel River Colne and parallel Grand Union Canal, mainly in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, with parts in the London Borough of Hillingdon, Berkshire and a small area in Surrey. Geography Much of the landscape is relatively flat – the lower reach of the Colne forming the centre of the park. Almost all the land is only AOD, with a mixture of soils, including occasionally wet, loamy soils and clayey soils, and a small amount of naturally slightly acid heath. Passing through the park is the Colne Valley Trail or Colne Valley Way, which forms a major section of the London Loop and connects to the Hertfordshire Way north of Watford. East of the village of Denham, and west of the villages of Cowley and Harefield, and the town of Uxbridge, the Colne Valley regional park contains a mixture of farmland, woodland and water, of river and canal and over forty lakes, which help to regulate the flow of the major Thames tributary and provide fish for angling. The park is a regionally important place of recreation and is internationally important for wildlife. Large areas are open to the public or accessible through a network of paths. Paths stretch from Staines in the south to Rickmansworth in the north through the alluvial meadows in the valley of the River Colne. Popular attractions include Black Park, Chiltern Open Air Museum and the conservation area of Little Britain by the Grand Union Canal, Cowley. Elevations nearby range from AOD on steep hillsides in Harefield, Denham and Rickmansworth, to at Staines Moor. In the south, the area includes Staines Moor, the Staines Reservoirs and the King George VI Reservoir. The reservoirs support nationally important wintering populations of tufted ducks, pochard, goosander and goldeneye. Impact of development Being situated on the edge of London, the park is threatened by many proposed developments. The park has claimed it is "fighting for its life." The park is already crossed by three motorways: the M4, M25, and the M40. The park is threatened by the possibility of the Expansion of Heathrow Airport. The park has said "a huge area of the southern third of the Park will be lost. In addition to the new runway itself, there will be associated taxiways, hotels, car parks, warehousing, and offices." High Speed 2 will pass through the