SHROPSHIRE PARKS AND GARDENS TRUST Re8lStered Charity Number 1202152 THIRD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Thutsday 19th March 2026 SHROPSHIRE PARKS& GARDENS TRusr ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2025
SHROPSHIRE PARKS AND GARDENS TRUST THIRD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 6.30pm Thursday 19th March 2026 Shropshire Wildlife Trust Headquarters 193 Abbey Foregate Shrewsbury SY2 6AH AGENDA l. Apologies for absence 2. Minute5 of the AGM of 20 March 2025 3. Chairman's Report 4. Treasurer5 report Resolution5.' To receive the Report of the Hon Treasurer for the financial year January- December 2025 To approve the appointment of the AuditorsJames, Holyoak & Parker Ltd 5. Planning and Conservation 6. Events and Winter Lectures 7. Election of Trustees 8. Date, Place, and time of next Annual General Meeting.. Thursday 18 March 2027 The AGM will be followed by a Buffet and then by a talk by Keith Forster 'The National Memorial Arboretum,
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT 2025- 2026 The Shropshire Parks and Gardens Trust is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation ICIOI Registered Charity Number 1202152, set up to replace the Former Shropshire Parks and Gardens Trust, Registered Charity Number 1076257, which was set up as a Charitable Trust in 1997. The new CIO was re8iStered by the Charity Commission for England and Wales on 2 March 2023 and all the assets and members of the former Trust have now been transferred to the new CIO. This is the third AGM of the new CIO. The objects of the CIO are: To advance the education of the public in the art and science of parks and gardens by: Promoting the understanding, conservation, protection, improvement and recreation of Parks and Gardens and designed landscapes,. and b. Promoting for the benefit of the public the preSeatron, enhancement and recreation of whatever Parks and Gardens and designed landscapes may exist, or have existed, in and around the present or historic boundaries of the County of Shropshire. Vice-chairman's Report 2025- 2026 As previously advised, l am filling this position temporarily in the absence of a formal Chair, albeit that as announced in the current Magazine. Stephen Packer has stepped forward and bravely volunteered to take over the role, following this year's AGM: subject of course to approval from you, the Trust members. Your redoubtable Trustees have again worked hard on your behalf and continue to manage and develop the Trust to meet future challenges, with our Treasurer, Rose Gibson keeping our accounts in order and Daphne Capps supporting our members. Membership, which had been in decline in recent years, has received a boost thanks in part to Stephen's excellent programme of visits and talks throu8hout the year, which have attracted a number of new members. To these we extend a warm welcome. Please encourage your friends and family to join our events and to support the Trust's work over the coming year. The more members we have, the stronger we become and the more we can host future hlgh-quality talks and visits. The most recent V15its are described in detail in the Autumn and Spring 2025 editions of the Magazine, which again has been lovingly and expertly crafted by Tom and Gisèle Wall. The Spring 2026 Magazine is currently in preparation and will be out soon. A programme of planned garden visits over the coming year to September, including two-day forays to Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, is also posted on the website.
Our role in responding to various Planning applications affecting Shropshire's parks and gardens, has taken place this year under a cloud of uncertainty over the Gardens Trust's 'Statutory Consultee, role under review and indeed, threat, which is outlined in below in some detail. This time last year, our resigning former Chair, Mary King, petitioned for help from members in the future running of the Trust and l am here repeating that appeal. As well as stepping up as Chair, Stephen will be continuing his role as Events Coordinator, but we still urgently need a Secretary and there are a number of other important roles which stubbornly remain unfilled, such as Publicity (including the website) and a Research Coordinator. Chris Gallagher Treasurer's Report for the Flnanclal Year January- December 2025 The Trust's accounts show a loss of £635 for 2025. While this is on the face of it an improvement on the previous year, the figure is slightly distorted by timing issues for both receipts and payments. The trust has also committed to some further expenditure on publicity. As we mentioned last year, we hope that once completed, this will bring in new members On the plus side, I have now reclaimed from HMRC the Gift Aid due for 2023-2025, so that row in the accoLtnts will no longer be blank. Depending on future receipts, it should be about £150 a year. Rose Gibson Planning and Conservatlon Report 2025-2026 Much has happened on the Planning front since last year's AGM. in addition to the normal consultations with Local Planning Authorities ILPAs1. In March 2025, Government announced that under new proposals, the Gardens Trust would no longer be a statutory consultee for planning applications affecting Registered Parks and Gardens IRPAGS) within England. A consultation period wa5 launched, to which the Gardens Trust and many others responded robustly and in detail, outlining the potentially serious and long-lasting damage this would risk causing to England'5 1,720 Registered Parks and Gardens. Currently, Historic England (HEI is ortly consulted by LPAS about Grade l (146, or 8.5°Al & Grade Il 1461, or 26.8%) RPAGS, with the Gardens Trust being the sole consultee for the remaining 1,113 Grade11 RPAGs164.7°Al, although it also is routinely consulted about Grade l & Il Government says, is inefficient as it unnecessarily duplicates effort. sites. This, the My own thinking on this point is that, far from being a gratuitous increase in effort, it is as it should be and that furthermore, the Gardens Trust's input into these hugely significant Grade l &11 properties, adds considerable expertise, detailed local knowledge and irreplaceable value to their understanding and management. Historic England presently has diverse responsibilities connected
with some 379,634 Listed Buildings and nearly 20,000 Scheduled Monuments and archaeological sites. as well as numerous other heritage assets such as wrecks, battlefields and World Heritage Sites. Their input into Grade l & II. RPAGs on the other hand, is delivered with only about half a dozen qualified landscape architects, not including consultants. The Gardens Trust works closely with HE to ensure that these hugely valuable heritage properties have access to the necessary understanding and protection they require. The second reason given for removing the Gardens Trust as a statutory consultee, was that this would place Registered Parks & Gardens on the same footing within the planning system, as Listed buildings. This however, ignores that fact that Listed buildings are, and have always been, subject to much greater direct protection within the planning system, than is presently given to Registered Parks & Gardens. Legislation has been in hand since 2023 under Section 102 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act l5.58BI, to introduce a statutory duty for LPAS to have -special regard to the desirability of the preserving or enhoncing Registered Parks and Gardens or their Setting,, which would put these assets on a level with Listed buildings. Rather than confirming the intention to proceed with this remedy however, the present consultation merely states that it is ' ..under consideration,. The third justification given was that '...removing these the Gardens Trust as a statutory consultee would help rationalise the planning system. It would also reduce bureaucrocy by removing around 3,000 Statutory consultotions per yearfrom the planning system,. In the year 2024-25, the Gardens Trust received and commented on around 60% of the above consultations. This however represents only around 0.6% of all planning applications actually decided by authorities in the year ending June 2025. Even allowing for the totol number of Statutory consultations quoted above, the figure rises to only 0.9% of decisions. Given these figures, it is difficult to see also how removing the Gardens Trust as a consultee would help to .rationolise the planning system..., or how this would be achieved. Fourth, the Consultation text appears to compare the statutory consultee role of the Gardens Trust, seemingly unfavourably, with that of national amenity societies such as the Victorian Society which, it states, are consulted only on proposals to demolish all or part of a Listed building, without any obligation on their part to respond. Promoting this as a model for the future protection of the 1.720 Registered Parks and Gardens in England, which together represent one of the foremost assemblages of heritage assets of this kind anywhere in the world, might be seen as an extraordinary step to be contemplating. given both the level of long-term damage that would likely ensue and the future costs of its repair. Fifth, it is proposed within the Consultation text that the Gardens Trust would not in future be notified of applications for development outside the boundary of Grade 11 Registered Parks and Gardens, i.e. within its immediate and wider 5etling. This would in effect separate all Re8lStered Parks and Gardens a5 presently understood from their setling, downgrading their Significances at a stroke, by removing the key contribution made to them by their settings.
This flies in the face of more than a decade of progress in the provision of carefully considered protection provided for Registered Parks and Gardens and their sethngs under the NPPF. It will also unquestionably lead to a substantial increase in applications for housing and other development5 in these largely greenfield areas of the countryside. Taken as a whole, it would appear that government proposals as currently outlined, relate principally to the provision of housing development land leffectively in open countryside), rather than as an honest attempt to '... improve thefunctioning of the statutory consultee system to facilitate confident and timely decision making... Were the goals expressed in this statement actually true, there would on the face of it be little requirement for change, as the majority of statutory consultees, including the Gardens Trust, already operate in this manner, and can demonstrate this to be the case, citing numerous examples and robust data. The consultation period on these proposals has now closed while responses are considered. In the meantime, substantial changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) are also proposed, with the stated aim of ensuring that ' .Ilocall plan5 contribute positively to our Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million new safe and decent homes in England by the end of this Parliament.. Whether this is deliverable within the stated timescale, remains to be seen. In the meantime, the Gardens Trust, with also the 35 County Gardens Trusts, with their 7,500 or so members and 800 'highly active volunteers.. will continue as now to offer support and specialist expertise as requested to the owner5 and managers of England's historic parks and gardens, designated or otherwise. Chris Gallagher Events Report 2025-26 Summer Visits Progrdmrne The programme of visits for the summer was very well attended as shown in the following table. Venue Date Number attended Chillington Hall April 26 Acton Scott Hall May 26 Biddulph Old Hall June 26 Wyndcliffe / High Glanau July 31 Unfortunately, the September visit to Apley Castle had to be cancelled. The residents there felt that their gardens had suffered during the summer drought and asked for a p05tponement. This visit has now been rearranged for May this year. The most popular visit was the two-day visit to Monmouthshire with 31 members attending. There was very positive feedback for this visit. The first visit of 2026 was to Ashwood Nursery and John's Garden. Again, this was very well attended with 30 people having booked. Further visits in 2026 are to Stockton Bury in April followed by the rearranged visit to Apley Castle in May. This year we have two 2-day visits, to the Cotswolds in June and to Wiltshire in July. The
programme concludes with a September visit to Horatio's Garden at the orthopaedic hospital in Gobowen. Winter Talks Programme We have been able to offer a varied programme of talks this winter by speakers with diverse backgrounds. In October, Francesca Murray from the Gardens Trust, spoke to us about the Gardeners Benevolent Fund and this was followed by a fine talk by Advolly Richmond entitle 'A Short History of Flowers.. Simon Gulliver, who previously worked with the National Trust. returned for a second year in January, giving us an insight into the plant collector Ernest 'Chinese' Wilson. The February talk was given by Lisette Davies, head gardener at Plas Newydd in Llangollen, on the history of roses. The talks, held again at the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, have proved popular with between 25 and 30 people attending each talk. Stephen Packer Election of Trustees for 2025- 2026 The COI currently has 7 Trustees: Vice Chairman Chris Gallagher Membership Secretary Daphne Capps Treasurer Rose Gibson Committee Member Mary King Committee Member Kathy Hurbert Committee Imogen Wood Events Organiser Stephen Packer Under the terms of Clause 13111 of our Constitutlon, one third of the Charity Trustees shall retire from office at every General Meeting of the members of the CIO. Retiring Trustees may stand for re-election. Imo8en Wood is retiring by rotation at this AGM and standing for re-election Rose Gibson is retiring by rotation at this AGM and standing for re-election Stephen Packer is retiring by rotation at this AGM and standing for re-election Further nominations forTrustees are welcome. Any Members wishing to put forward nominations for themselves or someone else may do so either by sending them to the Chairman before the meeting or at the meeting in person. Nominees must be proposed and seconded by members of the CIO and have agreed to their names being put forward.
MINUTES OF THE 2. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF SHROPSHIRE PARKS AND GARDENSTRUST 20 March 2025 The Shropshire Wildllfe Trust Headquarters, 193 Abbey Foregate, Shrewsburyi SY2 6AH Present There were 25 Members present. Welcome Members were welcomed by SPGT President Sir Algernon Heber Percy, who thanked the Trustees for their hard work over the year and for the organization of such good visits and for the pleasure they bring. l. Apologies Apologies were received from Gareth Williams, Tom Wall, Gisele Wall, Kathy Moynes. Mark Pollard. 2. Mlnutes The Minutes of the I" Annual General Meeting of the Shropshire Parks and Gardens Trust on 21 March 2024 were signed and accepted as a true record. Proposed by Rose Gibson, seconded by Kathy Hurbert and approved unanimously. 3. The Chairman's Report The Chairman drew attention to the report that had been circulated to members with the AGM Papers and the hard work of the Trustees over the year. There had been another successful programme of Summer Visits and Winter Lectures and two Editions of the Magazine had been published and sent to members. The Trust had continued to respond to Planning consultations both on its own behalf and on behalf of the Gardens Trust. However, shortage of Trustees meant that it was becoming difficult to cover all our work. A Consultant, Sarah Greenwood of Likeminded Communications, had been appointed to assist in publicising the Trust and attracting new Members. All members were encouraged to spread the word and recruit their friends. 4. Treasurer's Report Mary King reported thatthe Trust made a loss in 2024 of £1,351. despite our decision last year to pause the bursaries scheme and was largely because of reducing membership and increasing costs. The Board had therefore decided to invest in professional help with re-design of our publicity and promotional materials to try and attract new members, the cost of which will appear in the current year's account5. The Trustees had considered increasing the cost of Membership but decided that the fees would be kept at the current level for at least another year. as increasing them could lose further members, the opposite of what was needed. Savings would be made by limiting the number of mailings. and by using e-mail where possible. Our Auditors James, Holyoak & Parker Ltd had in the past very kindly audited our accounts at no cost to us, but will be unable to continue to offer their services free of charge. and will have to charge us a fee in the region of £150 plus VAT. The Treasurer recommended that we continued to use their services and thank them for all the work that they have carried out for us without charge in the past.
Resolutions: Acceptance of the Annual Accounts for 2024 was proposed by Rose Gibson, seconded by Paul Jackson and approved unanimously. The appointment of the Auditors Holyoak and Parker Ltd for a further year was proposed by Rose Gibson, seconded by Terry Lipscombe and approved unanimously. 5. Planning and Conservation Report The Vice Chairman reported on the responses he had made on behalf of the Trust and the Gardens Trust to the Planning Consultations we had received over the year. Whilst the majority do not cause undue concern, we have objected to planning application at the boathouse in Shrewsbury, a lodge at Badger, a wind turbine at Colebatch near Bishops Castle. This would have a wide detrimental impact across the area. The details of the planning applicakn'on were given out for members if they wanted to get involved. He also reported on a proposal by the Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Government to remove the Gardens Trust as a statutory consultee on planning applications affecting Registered Parks and Gardens. 6. Events and Winter Lectures Stephen Packer reported on the varied and interested programme of visits and lectures that had taken place over the year and outlined the proposed visits for 2025, which include visits to Chillington Hall, Acton Scott Hall, Biddulph Old Hall, Apley Castle and a two-day visit to Monmouthshire which will include Wyndcliffe Court and High Glanau Manor. The Vice Chair, Chris Gallagher, then took over for the rest of the meeting. 7. Election of Trustees Under the terms of our Constitution, one third of the Charity Trustees shall retire from office at every General meeting of the CIO. Retiring Trustees may Stand for re-election. The following Trustees retlred and stood for re-elertlon: Mary King: Proposed Jane Gallagher, seconded by Terry Lipscombe, elected unanimoLtsly. Kathy Herbert.. Proposed Daphne Capps, seconded Nicky Lipscombe, elected unanimously. 8. Date. Place and Time ofthe next Annual General Meeting The next Annual General Meeting will be held at 6.30pm on Thursday 19 March 2026 at the Shropshire Wildlife Trust Headquarters, 193 Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury. SY2 6AH The Vice Chair then thanked the Trustees for all their hard work during the year. He presented Mary King with a gift and thanked he for all her hard work over the years. Finally, he thanked the members for attending and all those who had provided food for the buffet.
SHROPSHIRE PARKS & GARDEYS TRUST Reaistered Charlt No. 1202152 RECLIPTS PAYMEN'fs ACCOUNT YEAR ENDED 31" DECENIBER 2025 JAme$, Holyoak & Parker Limited
SHROP.SHIRE PARKS & GARDF.NS TRUST Re istered Chari INO. 1202152 RECEIPTS AND PAYLVIEJTS ACCOLNT YEAR ENDED 31" DLCEMBF.R 2025 Year Ended 31.12.25 l'ear Ended 31.12.24 Re¢ei Subscriptions Lectures & Visits Summer Event Donaiions Gift Aid 1,195 4,437 847 1,436 160 75 5,792 2,358 Bank Interest 186 220 5.978 2,578 Pavments Hire ot'Room Speakers Insuranec Priniing & Publicity Entry b'ees & Coach Hirt Secretarial Expenses Sundries Website Costs AGT.Membership Burqarie8 545 475 218 453 3,200 146 41 I,J80 149 554 339 218 536 1.391 265 167 300 159 6,613 Net Surplusl(Deficit) (635) (1.3511 Balanec at Bank brought forward 14.459 15,810 Balance at Bank carried foNiard 13.824 14,459 We have examined the accounts together with the books. vouchers and documents relating to Shropshire Parks and (Jdrdens Trust for the year ended 31 %t Decembcr 2025 and the ba12nces hand at that date. In our opiniun the books have been properly kept and the above account is in agreement with the books, vouchers and documents submiited and expldt10nS giF'en to us. JAII qLS, HOL YOAK & PARKER LTD, Chartered tlccountants, l Kni(Jhts Court Archers Wav Battlefield Enterprlse Park Shrewsburyy SYI 3GA