Royal Horticultural Society calls for £6m from government after M25 roadworks 'disrupt access'
Royal Horticultural Society calls for £6m from government after M25 roadworks 'disrupt access'
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Charity sees 25 per cent drop in visitors since beginning of major M25 roadworks. The Royal Horticultural Society has demanded £6m in compensation from the government after major roadworks impacted the number of visitors to its flagship site. The charity launched a petition to secure the reimbursement after it said 350,000 fewer people had visited the RHS Garden Wisley annually due to roadworks on the M25/A3 interchange.
![[Engineering works have been taking place at the A3 Wisley interchange at Junction 10 of the M25 (Jordan Pettit/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/17/00/88c29ffde89b108c01d96bba9d1755e5Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM3MTExMDkz-2.76132708.jpg)
Losses are expected to rise from the current £6m to £11m by the time the £317m National Highway roadworks finally finish. The charity says the drop in visitors to its gardens in Surrey has forced it to delay the development of new arboretums and the planting of 4,000 trees to investigate climate resilience for the next century.
![[Since the works began in September 2022, dozens of road closures and significant travel disruption have contributed to the 25 per cent reduction in visitors to the site.]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/04/19/19/newFile-3.jpg)
RHS Vice President Alan Titchmarsh CBE said it could have created 15 NHS wellbeing gardens and funded 110 horticultural apprenticeships or 38 science PhD students with the lost funds, as he urged more people to get behind the petition. “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,” the gardener and broadcaster said.
“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.”.
