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National Trust gears up to reopen its gardens to socially distanced visitors

Goldfinch at Powis, a National Trust property in Powys - National Trust Emma Marshall
Goldfinch at Powis, a National Trust property in Powys - National Trust Emma Marshall

Gardens and parks, including those managed by the National Trust, the Royal Horticultural Society and English Heritage, could open as soon as the weekend of June 6 and 7 after the Government issued unexpected advice last Friday, which means attractions can reopen following more than two months of being closed during the coronavirus crisis.

George Plumptre, chief executive of the National Garden Scheme (NGS), noted how the announcement last week almost went unnoticed: “A quietly posted update on the Defra website set out an alteration to the government advice and clarified that it is now permissible to open gardens to visitors, in a controlled manner which maintains social distancing and other guidelines.”

All fee-paying gardens, such as Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, RHS Wisley, Rosemoor, Hyde Hall and Harlow Carr, and all English Heritage, Historic Houses Association (HHA) and National Trust sites locked their gates in the last week of March when the lockdown was first announced.

To reopen, gardens staff have to be unfurloughed and safety measures put in place. Entry will be ticketed to keep numbers manageable and entrances and exits may have to be changed to ensure social distancing. Cafes will remain shut, while toilets will have a one-in, one-out queuing policy and will close for regular cleaning. Outdoor plant retail centres at RHS sites such as Wisley have already reopened.

For some organisations, such as the NGS and HHA, the number of open gardens will depend on the willingness of individual property owners to welcome back visitors, with all the new social distancing and safety concerns involved.

The new Government guidance, issued on May 22, states that people can “visit gardens and land maintained for public use as an alternative open space to spend time outdoors, although buildings and amenities such as cafes will remain closed and access may be limited to members or those with tickets to ensure social distancing. You should check ahead and follow social distancing guidelines”.

Cleave Hill, an NGS garden in Devon - NGS
Cleave Hill, an NGS garden in Devon - NGS

The Government says the risk of the virus being passed on outdoors is low – as long as people socially distance.

A National Trust spokesperson said: “Throughout this pandemic we have followed government advice, so the update to government guidance on ticketed outdoor venues is welcomed and allows us to finalise our plans for reopening our gardens and parkland.

”Any reopening will need to be phased and gradual, and in order to maintain social distancing and public safety we have a pre-booking system in place. Visits to our gardens and parklands will be available for booking shortly before the reopening of each place.

“The details of our reopening plans will be published in the coming days.”

A Kew spokesperson said: “We are working on our reopening plans and are looking forward to having visitors back in the Gardens.”

The National Trust reopened car parks at many of its beauty spots last week. It furloughed 11,200 staff - around 80 per cent - in March. Director general Hilary McGrady told the Parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee earlier this month that membership cancellations are at four times the usual rate and that the Trust is shelving almost all its conservation projects until March 2021, may not open its historic houses until the end of August and faces a £200 million deficit from coronavirus this year. There are fewer opportunities to replenish membership while its sites remain closed.

She said Trust parks and gardens will be first to reopen, telling the select committee: “Our members want us to be open, but they do want us to open safely. And we will do this in a really controlled and careful way, that’s why we’ve introduced the booking system.

“But it is incredibly important just for, apart from anything else, the mental wellbeing of the nation that they can get out, and access places like the National Trust.

“We offer incredibly safe spaces for people to be able to visit and just have a bit of space and have access to nature. We think it’s really important to be doing that sooner rather than later.”

National Trust Scotland has placed 429 staff at risk of redundancy. Income is predicted to drop £28m this year with investment losses of £46m.

It has also been reported that English Heritage will lose between £50m-£70m this year. John Watkins, head of gardens and landscapes head said: “Many [approximately 200] of English Heritage’s free-to-enter outdoor sites are already open. And subject to Government guidance, we are planning to re-open some of our staffed sites from early July - the first sites to re-open will be our larger sites with outdoor spaces for instance, large historic gardens, castles and abbeys with extensive grounds, battlefields, and places like Hadrian’s Wall and Stonehenge where there is plenty of room for people to roam.”

Emma Robinson, Historic Houses Association director of policy and public affairs said: “It’s good news that gardens in England have the freedom to open if they want to and are able to. That’s key for us - we’re very clear that it doesn’t mean anyone is compelled to open because everyone has different circumstances. The over-riding priority is safety.”

Among the 1,500 HHA members to reopen their grounds and gardens already are The Bishops Palace in Wells and Doddington Hall in Lincolnshire, while HHA gardens committee chair Ursula Cholmeley will reopen Easton Walled Gardens, near Grantham, this weekend (May 30&31).

An RHS spokesperson said: “We look forward to welcoming our members, visitors and staff safely back to our RHS Gardens very soon and will shortly announce dates and times for reopening and details for how to book a time slot on our website.”

Matthew Appleby is the Editor of Horticulture Week.