Major charity reveals 'devastating losses' caused by A3 and M25 roadworks
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The RHS says that National Highways roadworks on the A3 and M25 have led to 350,000 fewer people visiting its Wisley Garden – resulting in £6million losses. Now it’s calling for Government intervention for compensation to enable vital science, community and education projects – now at risk – to go ahead.
The A3 is to close for works again this weekend (January 18 and 19) and the RHS says its losses will rise to £11 million when the roadworks finally end in 2026.
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Hide AdIt is now delaying the development of new arboretums and the planting of 4,000 trees to investigate climate resilience for the next century; significantly reducing funding for scientific research; cutting back on its community outreach work and looking at training 10 per cent fewer student horticulturists over the next two years.


TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh is now joining with the RHS in calling on everyone who values horticulture and gardens to sign an RHS petition (rhs.org.uk/a3petition) urging the Government to recognise RHS Wisley as a special case for compensation for its ‘devastating losses’ and to ‘safeguard the RHS and its vital charitable work for the future.’
Alan said: “With the £6 million losses the RHS could have created 15 NHS wellbeing gardens and brought gardening and nature to hundreds more schools across the UK. £6 million would also fund 110 horticultural apprenticeships or 38 science PhD students supported by 76 UK leading scientists to find nature-based solutions to help issues like pollution, flooding and the biodiversity and the climate crises.
“These losses are catastrophic not only for the RHS, but for the whole of the UK in terms of the incredible work the RHS does to help people and planet and educating and supporting millions of gardeners to garden more sustainably for a better future.
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Hide Ad“Unlike others that failed before it, this Government must recognise the importance of horticulture, of gardeners and of the immense positive benefits gardens, gardening and growing plants can have on our health, the environment, wildlife and biodiversity to safeguard the future for generations to come.”
Given to the RHS in 1903, RHS Garden Wisley is recognised as a unique place of historical and horticultural value. It has one of the world’s largest plant collections with more than 25,000 different species.
RHS director general Clare Matterson said: “The Highways compensation laws are complicated and unlikely to enable the RHS to recoup these devastating losses. If there was ever a special case for compensation surely RHS Wisley stands out as a national treasure that needs to be upheld and prized and our charitable work as vital to be protected.
“Whilst we’re grateful for the new road and the positive difference it is now beginning to make following months of disruption, going back to our original objections it continues to be a flawed solution that increases car miles around J10 by some 1 million kilometres per annum, affecting the Special Protection Area. We continue to believe circular routing could have been avoided, saving these increased car miles, by creating slip roads off the A3.”
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Hide AdThe A3 closure over this weekend will begin overnight on January 17 through to the morning of January 20 - but the RHS Garden Wisley will remain open – despite expecting to once again face dramatically reduced visitors.
The A3/M25 works began in September 2022, since then there have been dozens of road closures and significant disruption and traffic issues for visitors getting to Wisley.
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