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Planning and Conservation

Do you care about London’s green spaces? Would you like to help protect them from unsympathetic changes? Would you like to create plans and policies that support and enhance London’s historic designed landscapes and open spaces?   If so, this is the group for you.

Protecting our landscape heritage

The planning process is the main arbiter for determining land use in England.  The Planning & Conservation Working Group  works to ensure planning policies protect London’s parks, gardens and green spaces (historic or otherwise) and by responding to planning application consultations on behalf of London Parks & Gardens.

London Parks & Gardens is the County Gardens Trust for Greater London, affiliated to The Gardens Trust. The Gardens Trust is a statutory consultee, which means that local authorities are legally obliged to consult with us before deciding on applications and policies which affect historic parks and gardens. Local authorities must consider our response as part of their decision process. We also work with other campaigns to protect our green spaces from development or privatisation. 

To read more about the history of how County Gardens Trusts, including London Parks & Gardens, joined with The Gardens Trust, please read this article which was published in Garden History, Journal of The Garden Trust volume 50:2 (2022).

There is a lot going on, so we need more help! 

What do our volunteers do?

Volunteers visit the Olympic Park

Planning Volunteers are our eyes and ears in the boroughs, getting to know their local area, and assessing planning applications and responding to local planning policy consultations as they arise.   We actively support applications, campaigns, and plans which benefit parks and gardens in London.  The group meets 4-6 times a year on line to discuss any current issues and casework, and regularly visit sites of interest for walkabouts and training.

Getting involved

Getting involved in planning is a tangible and practical way that you can help protect your local green spaces, especially with the many threats our parks are currently facing.

To find out about joining the group, contact: office@londongardenstrust.org

Or fill in the volunteer form and make a note of your interest in planning.

Planning & Conservation Working Group Handbook

The Planning & Conservation Working Group Handbook can be downloaded here, which is a supplementary guide for volunteers.