'Our green jewels are at risk of being plundered'

BRITAIN’S treasured historic gardens and parks will be put at risk if proposed changes to planning rules go ahead, a charity has warned.

- By Emily Beament

BIRKENHEAD PARK SISSINGHURST Treasured...the glorious grounds of Chatsworth House, in Derbyshire

The Gardens Trust protects and conserves designed landscapes across the UK - which it describes as the country’s “green crown jewels” that play a “crucial” role in growth, health and climate action.

The organisation is currently one of a number that have to be approached about applications for building developments.

But it says it may be stopped from doing its job because the government is set to launch a consultation on removing some statutory consultees from the planning process.

In its report, the Trust says designed landscapes are a key part of our towns and countryside, with more than 1,700 given listed status through inclusion on the register of parks and gardens of special historic interest.

Sites include the gardens at Hampton Court Palace in South West London, Chatsworth in Derbyshire, and Sissinghurst in Kent.

Merseyside’s Birkenhead Park, the Stoney Road

Warning...Trust chair John Watkins