I recently received a communication from Paul Rabbits, the Parks Management Association chairman who notified PMA members that the government is proposing to remove the statutory role of the Gardens Trust.

The Gardens Trust is a vital organisation for preserving and protecting our historic parks and gardens. Paul wanted to remind parks professionals about this government consultation.

As a ex parks professional myself, I think it is important that the general public are aware of this government survey that is being conducted. 

Gardens Trust

The Gardens Trust is the only national organisation exclusively focused on historic designed landscapes, commonly known as ‘historic parks and gardens’. A charity, the Gardens Trust represents and supports the 36 local volunteer County Garden Trusts in England and works with related bodies across the UK. They work closely with others across the sector to maximise their contribution – you can see examples of those we work with here.

As a statutory consultee, local planning authorities must consult the Gardens Trust in relation to all planning applications that may affect historic designed landscapes on the statutory Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. The Gardens Trust is the only consultee for sites on the Register at all Grades (Grades I, II and III). Like all other statutory consultees, its responses are advisory only and are used to inform the local planning authorities’ decision-making.

In 2024-25 the Gardens Trust made 1289 planning consultation responses. 372 of the responses were bespoke, detailed responses of advice, with no objection. Only 85 of the responses were objections, and 16 of these were procedural because the consultation did not include the required information. Objections formed only 6.6% of our responses and were made only when vital. Where housing development is proposed, the Gardens Trust advises on impacts and harm and possible mitigations. In 2024-25 their objections related to only 1135 proposed new dwellings.

Cost of the Gardens Trust’s contribution to the planning system

The cost of the Gardens Trust’s statutory consultee role to the taxpayer is currently £43,963. If it did not carry out this work, the cost to local planning authorities in plugging the gap could be over £3million if using staff, or almost £8million if using consultants to address an in-house shortage of expertise.

The impact of removing the Gardens Trust’s statutory consultee role

There is no other body able to offer dedicated and expert advice to local planning authorities on planning applications that may affect historic parks and gardens. Local planning authorities do not hold this knowledge themselves and if they must make planning decisions in a vacuum of information about the impact on parks and gardens then the result is likely to be poor quality development and missed opportunities to make the most of the nation’s readymade green infrastructure, an irreplaceable resource. The loss of the statutory consultee role would most particularly leave Grade II Registered Parks and Gardens in a very precarious state as the Gardens Trust is the only consultee for those sites. Grade II sites account for 65% of the Register and are often the more accessible sites to the general public and, through their familiarity, often the more vulnerable. They are deeply concerned about this potential loss of these unique cultural assets many accessible to all.

Finally, I believe that historic parks and gardens have a role to play in:

• Growing the economy, as historic parks and gardens support well-designed development with ready-made access to pre-existing greenspace. They also add hugely to the UK’s tourism economy, being one of the biggest drivers in this field, nationally and internationally.
• Help to ameliorate the impacts of climate change.
• Support nature recovery, particularly in our cities, where , established older landscapes can provide established complex habitats.
• Public parks play an important role in social cohesion by offering space for people to come together and build communities, as well as offering places for wellbeing, play and recreation for all. Public parks were created to help civilise the rapidly expanding cities in the 19th century, 1920s and post war period and will be critical to the success of 21st century urban expansion and concentration.
• Ensuring that the NHS is fit for the future, because parks help reduce demand on the NHS by offering free-to-access places to exercise and enjoy fresh air, critical for health and wellbeing.
• Nurturing opportunity for all, because not only does an active parks and gardens sector support inclusive access to leisure but it also offers a range of accessible career pathways.