Linden Groves on why The Gardens Trust needs to remain as a planning statutory consultee

The Garden Trust's Linden Groves is campaigning against a proposal to end the organisation's role as a planning statutory consultee.

She robustly contests the proposal to remove the statutory consultee role and disagrees that it would improve the planning system. Instead, precious parks and gardens, hard won over many centuries, would be lost to communities both now and in future.

“We are passionate about the role that the UK’s world-famous historic parks and gardens can play in supporting positive economic growth and healthy cohesive societies, and eager to continue helping this in our role as statutory consultee. We encourage supporters to respond to the consultation and will publish our response as soon as possible.”

In March, the Government decided to ditch planning consultancy from bodies including The Gardens Trust, to speed up the planning system. “We are seeking views on reforming the role of statutory consultees in the planning system in England,” it said. The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 13 January 2026.

• The consultation can be accessed here.

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