Hadlow would certainly seem to be one of the obvious candidates; and I believe that there were some discussions with them, at the time of the ‘first’ closure – following the GO withdrawal. I was however advised then, by one of the Congelow Trustees, that they “didn’t go anywhere”.

Any management by an outside organisation would have to ensure continuing public access; both to fulfil the “advance the education of the general public” requirement and to keep the public goodwill that is so essential to it’s survival – and I am uncertain as to whether Hadlow would want to take-on that role, or indeed to become involved in the significant amount of development and promotion, that will be necessary to turn the Gardens back into a nationally recognised working-showcase for organics, and also a viable business and tourist destination, in their own right.

My own thoughts are that this can only be achieved, with an approach that brings-together a number of organisations – such as Hadlow – in a co-operative way – but at the same time sticks firmly to the organic (and ‘green’) principles that the Gardens were built upon. It is no good expecting (say) another retailer, to be able to make a go of the Gardens as a kind of sideline.

However, my worry is that there is probably not the desire amongst the Trustees, to consider running the site in such a ‘multi-partner’ way – which could involve them in actually managing the site themselves – probably through their own appointed staff – rather than following their present course of (apparently) attempting to find a new commercial ‘operator’.

When the Congelow Trust was originally set-up in 1991; it is clear that, with the inclusion of Alan Gear as one of the trustees, the intention was that the HDRA would develop and manage the site. One imagines that the other trustees probably did not expect to be involved with the day-to-day management of the site – possibly expecting only to perform occasional administrative duties.

However, with the withdrawal of Garden Organic (HDRA), that situation has totally changed; and the trustees are now faced with fulfilling the aims of the charity – without any obvious way of doing so. The most recently available Congelow Trust accounts show an organization that clearly has difficulty in making a worthwhile return on its assets; and although there is nothing available yet to show how it has fared through the Maro tenancy – any income received, will of course have only been relatively short-term.

It is hard to see how this situation can be resolved by the Trust; and I have serious concerns that there may be more emphasis on finding another ‘operator’ – rather than actually trying to achieve a longer-term solution, in a holistic way and probably more in keeping with the original ethos of the gardens. There can be no “advancement of organic growing” in visiting a deserted site with closed gardens, or in “removing land from the organic programme” – and equally, without events, ‘visitor-experience’ and appropriate promotion and marketing, there can be no visitors to whom organic growing can be “advanced” in the first place!

My only hope, is that within the Congelow Trust there really may exist a desire to fulfil the original aims of the Trust; and that there may now be some kind of move towards a more co-operative and ‘greener’ solution. My fear however, is that they will instead just follow the same kind of ‘damage limitation’ course – with the priority being looking for someone to take-over the Maro lease; rather than building a solution that reflects what the Gardens are really there for!