Chelsea Flower Show, the
premier gardening event of the year and the traditional
start of the London season, could have to close next year
because of a dispute with the local council.
# In pictures: Photographs from last year's show
# Telegraph Chelsea Flower Show coverage
The London borough of Kensington and Chelsea is insisting
that after nearly 95 years of exhibiting in the grounds
of Sir Christopher Wren's Royal Hospital, the flower show
must apply for planning permission from 2009.
The Royal Horticultural Society, which runs the show, argues
planning permission cannot legally be required after so
many years of established use.
It has told the council that if it had to apply for permission
annually it would have to close the show down or move it
elsewhere.
Sources close to the event say the Society could not mount
the show, with its turnover of hundreds of millions of pounds,
if there were any restrictions on vehicle access to the
site or on the days when exhibitors and garden designers
can work on their stands.
The pressure point is believed to be the key week before
the show opens in mid-May.
The council is believed to have stepped in because of a
handful of complaints from well-heeled residents unhappy
about the number of lorries and the congestion from exhibitors
that clogs the roads over the weekend before the show opens.
Neither the council or the RHS are backing down and both
are understood to have sought counsel's opinion.
Sources close to the RHS say the ruling council is prepared
to take the case as far as the House of Lords, if need be.
Leading members of the society are astonished by the council's
behaviour towards an institution which brings economic benefits
worth £500 million to the country as a whole.
Robert Hillier, chairman of Hillier nurseries and a member
of the Society's council, said: "Chelsea is the flagship
and losing it would have a major impact on the local economy
and on the horticultural economy of the country as a whole."
Rupert Eley, a nurseryman and a member of the Society's
show's committee, said: "This is mad. Kensington and
Chelsea should be able to take the broader view and see
that the show is a big money spinner for the area. They
are lucky to have it."
Any changes that would force the Society to move to another
site would impact heavily on the Royal Hospital, the quarters
of the Chelsea pensioners.
The flower show, which has been held on the same site almost
every year since 1913, provides a much-needed annual income
which the Hospital is using to refurbish their quarters
and to build a new infirmary. Maj Gen Peter Currie, lieutenant
governor of the Royal Hospital, the society's landlord,
said: "The RHS genuinely feel that if this is pushed
to its conclusion they might not be able to continue with
the Chelsea Flower Show.
"It is not just them putting up flags, it is a genuine
concern. If it is a genuine concern to them, it is a genuine
concern to us.
"Anything that puts the show at risk is very disappointing.
We depend heavily on the income we get from it."
Two exhibition companies, Decorex and Art London, who use
the Royal Hospital site, are understood to have been required
already by the council to apply for planning permission.
A spokeswoman for the RHS, said: "For 2009 and beyond,
we are in early talks with the Royal Borough of Kensington
and Chelsea about planning consent at the RHS Chelsea Flower
Show and there is little we can say at the moment.
"We would not want planning consent issues to jeopardise
the future of the show. Chelsea provides vital income to
help the RHS as a charity to fund ongoing activities, it
is a world class horticultural event and the RHS is committed
to protecting it."
A council spokeswoman said: "There is no quarrel between
the Chelsea Flower Show and the Royal Borough. The Flower
Show has been part of the fabric of the borough for decades
and long may it continue to be so."
Meanwhile, patio heaters have been banned from the flower
show for the first time as part of a drive to become more
environmentally friendly. |
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