I’m writing to update you on our continued push against the government’s proposal to remove the Gardens Trust as a statutory consultee, and to ask for some points of help, please.
We have had meetings with the Ministry of Housing, Local Government and Communities and are providing them with evidence around the importance of our work. They have noted the strength of feeling amongst our considerable supporter base, which is helpful. The next main step should be the public consultation into statutory consultees, including the proposed removal of the Gardens Trust – we expect this to be in the next couple of months and will let you know once it is launched. We aim to publish the GT consultation response early, so that others, including yourselves, can use it for your own responses, should you wish.
The Gardens Trust team continues to work hard to address the government’s proposal to remove the GT’s statutory consultee role. We are incredibly grateful to members, County Gardens Trusts, volunteers and supporters for all the help being contributed – thank you.
Press coverage – looking for park and garden examples
Thanks to the contributions which so many of you have made to the ‘Fighting Fund’ appeal, we have been able to hire professional PR support. The results of this are already starting to come in – do look at this story in the Daily Express. (It is in the print version today too.) The press tend to look for specific examples of historic parks and gardens, especially ones that we have a relationship with. We would love to hear from you if you manage, own or have good connections with a site who might be interested in getting involved in this way. It would be good to hear from you asap on this, please.
Ask your MP to support the Planning and Infrastructure Bill amendment
We are delighted that Daisy Cooper MP has tabled an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, having already asked several questions in the House of Commons relating to the government’s proposal. The amendment would ensure that the Gardens Trust are included as statutory consultees in planning applications and you can read it here. It would be an immense help if you could please email your MP to encourage them to support this amendment. An updated Q&A is attached in case you would like to take points from it when writing to your MP.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill has 5 overarching objectives: Delivering a faster and more certain consenting process for critical infrastructure; Introducing a more strategic approach to nature recovery; Improving certainty and decision-making in the planning system; Unlocking land and securing public value for large scale investment; Introducing effective new mechanisms for cross-boundary strategic planning. You can read more about it here.
Letters of support
We have also begun to gather letters of support from relevant organisations and stakeholders – you can read this growing collection on our website. Do please get in touch if you are in a position to provide a letter, or contact someone else who could.
Fighting fund donations
We continue to welcome contributions to the fighting fund as there will undoubtedly be further calls on our finances. Do please encourage your networks to donate, further information can be found on our website.
Spread the word
Do please continue to spread our case in whatever way you can. In our last email we attached a Q&A, and an updated version is attached now. In particular, sharing our posts on social media is incredibly important – you can find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok as @thegardenstrust
