A West London councillor was heckled out of council chambers at a meeting on Wednesday (June 11) over plans to shut a garden centre used by people with learning disabilities. This followed an impassioned petition hearing at Hillingdon Council.
The petition related to the council’s planned closure of the Rural Activities Garden Centre. The plans to close the garden centre, which acts as a facility for people with learning difficulties, have united the local community in opposition, with attending residents shouting ‘shame!’ as the cabinet member left the chambers.
Councillor Eddie Lavery, Cabinet Member for Community and Environment, looked back at the two speakers as they described how important the garden centre is to them.
John Scrivens, who has a son that volunteers at the centre, questioned the lack of consultation around the closure, with another shouting at Cllr Lavery for “underhand” tactics.
He pointed out that only a few months ago, Hillingdon Council carried out a consultation into changes to green waste collections. Local Government Associated guidance provides legal requirements for a consultation to be held in some scenarios, including when ‘equality’ is impacted.
It reads: “The Equality Act 2010 states that public bodies must have ‘due regard’ to a variety of Equalities objectives (Equality Act 2010, Section 149) and consequently, Equality Analysis (formally Equality Impact Assessments) must be carried out to demonstrate that decision-makers are fully aware of the impact that changes may have on stakeholders.
“The concept of ‘due regard’ was reinforced in 2012 during the review of the Public Sector Equality Duty which ‘requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities’.”
Opponents to the plan argue that a consultation should be carried out in this case as it affects people with learning disabilities.
The Rural Activities Garden Centre is central to the lives of the volunteers, of which there are over 40. These volunteers live with a range of different learning disabilities, and they believe the effect on them must be considered in detail when looking at closure.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), parents said there was a lack of engagement from the council to understand the impact of closure prior to the announcement. Volunteers spoke of the devastation they would feel if the centre is closed by Hillingdon Council.
Dominic Craddock, another speaker, pushed back at the council’s claims the centre is an unsustainable commercial business. He said: “The council describes the centre as unable to compete with other garden centres yet the centre and is not set up to operate as such. The centre’s remit was for it to be run as a social enterprise and not as a commercial business.”
Hillingdon Council say a reason for closure is that the centre operates at a loss of £137,000 per year, subsidised by Hillingdon taxpayers. The local authority has said volunteers will be offered “enriched learning and developmental opportunities” and “a wider and more meaningful range of activities than they currently experience at the garden centre will provide them with broader skills and experiences”.
Once heckled out the room, Cllr Lavery was met by the ward councillor for the area affected by the closure, Cllr Roy Chamdal. Cabinet will discuss and vote on the closure of the Rural Activities Garden Centre on Thursday, June 26.
Hillingdon Council was contacted for comment.
Philip is a Local Democracy Reporter covering Ealing, Hillingdon and Hounslow, with a focus on council decisions, housing, planning, licensing and community stories across west London.
