Two men who built a West London garden centre “brick by brick” say it’s been a victim of council underfunding for decades, as they call for it to be saved from closure.
They have urged Hillingdon Council to reverse plans to close the Rural Activities Garden Centre (RAGC) near Hayes.
Mark Pearman and Alan Wellstead built the garden centre over 40 years ago in 1981. They said: “We know every sort of brick and tree, all of this was planted by us… we built everything… At the start there were ten guys here, but then it just grew and the public started to like it and people began to use the service.”
The Rural Activities Garden Centre, maintained by volunteers with a range of learning difficulties, remains under threat of imminent closure by Hillingdon Council. The local authority says “the RAGC’s retail operations are not economically viable, and we cannot expect residents to subsidise a loss-making garden centre”.
Alan and Mark say they predicted that once the focus of the garden centre became commercial, rather than on social care, it would close down. Alan said: “It could have stayed as just a social services resource, and all the positive benefits that come from that, or if funded properly, turn them a profit.”
Over the years, Alan and Mark would help to create care plans for adults with learning difficulties who would volunteer at the garden centre. Within this, they’d set individual targets and goals for each volunteer.
Mark said: “We’d be looking to see people progress as well. Alan used to use the statement ‘we’re not just growing plants – but growing people’.”
Alan added: “Ever since its conception it was a social care service.”
The pair, who built the garden centre up from a few paving slabs and grass into a “vital social care service”, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the council-owned garden centre has been “strangled of funds for all of those 40 years”.
Mark told the LDRS the garden centre shop has gone backwards on the council’s watch. He said: “The shop has gone backwards. What you call the shop, there was a little shed by the front gate there.
“Then, we got proper shops, but they [Hillingdon Council] didn’t replace them. There was a big cabin here, but things like that the council just refused to put money into it, and they’ve just gone back to a little shed again which is where we started at.”
Mark also describes the garden centre as a “stepping stone” for those who volunteer. He said: “It was a stepping stone, so you know, many would’ve found it hard to hold down a mainstream job.
“But this place taught them structure, how to interact with the general public, and taught them gardening, horticultural skills. It taught them about getting up in the morning to come to work. That’s what this place is giving.”
Mark Pearman [left] and Alan Wellstead [right]
‘It’s environmental vandalism’
The loss of the centre, which locals fear is paving the way for housing, would be damaging for the environment too, the pair add.
Earlier this year the government gave its backing for a third runway at Heathrow Airport. The number of flights landing at the airport could increase by almost 2,000 a day on average.
With that in mind, Mark said: “You’ve got Heathrow Airport, with planes taking off, you know, you’ve got this oasis here… You’re a few miles from the airport and you walk around and it’s a haven for wildlife.”
The RAGC contains habitats for a number of different animal species, including kestrels, bats, and wildlife ponds. Alan told the LDRS he believes that the move to close the garden centre is “environmental vandalism, frankly”.
The threat to the garden centre has caused outrage across different communities in Hillingdon. Such a large number of people were expected to attend a petition hearing urging the council to keep the centre open, that it was unusually heard in the council chambers.
‘The centre is not economically viable’ – council
Hillingdon Council said: “We would reiterate that no decision has been made. The council’s adult social care services have been rated ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission which recognised the support provided to residents. Should the proposals be approved we are committed to ensuring all volunteers with assessed social care needs will continue to use their personal budgets to access daytime activities of their choice, in familiar surroundings, supported by their own social care support staff.
“At the Civic Centre campus, they would be given their own, dedicated working space with the opportunity to work on newly-created gardens for weddings, library events and visitor recreation as well as continuing their interactions with adult education, which is located at the Civic Centre.
“Volunteers will continue to be supported under the guidance of staff who know them well, building on the strong foundations established at the RAGC. For the wider volunteer team, the council is proposing to work closely with them to help them secure new volunteer placements.
“Unfortunately, the RAGC’s retail operations are not economically viable, and we cannot expect residents to subsidise a loss-making garden centre.”
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