Many Gardens Trust members and supporters are rightly concerned about the government’s proposal to remove the Gardens Trust’s statutory consultee role. This proposal would put under real threat the parks and gardens that are at the heart of our nation’s life.
We are campaigning at every possible level and it is clear that support from MPs is invaluable.
This summer the government will be carrying out a public consultation into the impact of removing the Gardens Trust as a statutory consultee. We hope you will respond to the consultation, but please also consider writing to your MP, using these resources if you wish.
Download our template letter to send to your local MP below:
A personal letter in your own words is the most powerful
We understand that you may prefer to use our template letter, although a personal version is better.
Below you can download a spreadsheet of MPs, constituencies, email addresses.
As it is helpful to refer to a Registered Park and Garden in your MPs constituency in your letter too, we have included an example on our MP spreadsheet. Alternatively you can find another local park or garden by searching the Heritage List.
You may also want to include the key points below and perhaps some of the information included in our Q&A.
Key Points you could include in your letter
- 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.
- Meeting the challenges of the climate emergency, as landscapes have historically supported the provision of energy use and generation and we are keen to show how this can be done. They are critical too in supporting nature recovery, especially as older, established landscapes, such as support biodiversity significantly more than newly-created open space.
- Fostering safer streets, as public parks play an important role in social cohesion by offering both places to come together and build communities, as well as offering places for wellbeing, play and recreation for all. This is the reason that so many of them were created in the mid-19th century and challenging inter-war periods.
- 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.
- What the Gardens Trust does:
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 the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust, and works with related bodies across the UK. The Gardens Trust is the statutory consultee for planning applications which affect parks and gardens and as such, 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 II). Like all other statutory consultees, our responses are advisory only and are used to inform the local planning authorities’ decision-making. - The Gardens Trust’s performance as a statutory consultee:
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 were made only when vital, and many more responses were supportive. Where housing development is proposed, the Gardens Trust advises on impacts and harm and possible mitigations. In 2024-25 the Gardens Trust and County Gardens Trusts’ limited number of objections included only 1135 new dwellings that would have been built had permission been given (noting that Gardens Trust responses are only advice, and that we are not notified of outcomes). - 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 £10m. - 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 authority expertise and resource relating to the historic environment is extremely limited, especially in relation to parks and gardens. If local planning authorities 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. - We ask MPs to please:
- Ensure that the government takes proper account of the evidence and the public consultation responses in making its decision around the Gardens Trust’s statutory consultee role
- Support Amendment NC90 to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. You can find it on Pages 59-60 online here.
Your help makes a huge difference – thank you.
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