Licensing application
The good news is that as a result of public feedback, RBG Kew are 'considering':
- cutting the number of fireworks events from 15 to 8
- cutting the number of 'large events'
- revising their Sound Management Plan
- finishing large events by 10.30pm
Financial predicament
What puts it all into context for me, and will make me more sympathetic (!) to RBG in future is the fact that their annual expenditure has risen in the last 20 years from £17m to £50m, and their government grant has been cut from 90% in 1991 to 50% in 2011. So I can see why they're being so ferocious over entrance fees and fund-raising generally. (Such a shame - a couple of bankers' bonuses would cover the whole lot.)
Future priorities
A major priority is to restore the Temperate House, which is in a parlous state and will cost £28m over 8 years. They'll also be refurbishing Climbers and Creepers, and using restoration ecology to repair damage (not sure what this means).
They're thinking of improving the whole visitor 'experience' by making a Landscape Master Plan, a key element of which, if I remember right, is the Breathing Planet Walk that will seemingly point people round the gardens in a set circuit, rather like the dreaded Explorer. I can't see that this is really such a good idea. The glory of Kew is that you wander round and discover things you didn't know were there. The signposting works perfectly well as it is.
Another perplexing and disruptive sounding plan is to rethink the Victoria Gate and make it more of a world class entrance. Apparently most visitors to Kew come from the tube station and go in through Victoria Gate which they feel is not impressive enough. I can't imagine how it could be much better than it is, and it doesn't sound like a good use of finances to me.
Something more attractive is the proposal to 'reconnect' Kew with the river, which would effectively mean having a riverside entrance to the gardens, and possibly also a footbridge over the Thames to Syon House or Brentford.
Coaches
After the talk, Prof H opened the floor, and among the questions asked were concerns about the numbers of coaches lining the Kew Road and running their engines for hours to keep the drivers warm in winter or cool in summer while the tourists were in the gardens. Good suggestions made by the audience were to create a proper coach park in the Kew Green area (there used to be one there, someone said) and/or to make provision for the drivers to go to a cafe in the gardens.
Theme Park and garish signs
Two questions close to my heart, from other members of the audience.With the push for more visitors to the gardens, how is RBG going to prevent it from becoming a theme park? This one was vehemently denied by the director, which was good, but I have a feeling that there might have been a discrepancy in interpretation of the term theme park between the questioner and Prof H.
The other question was about the signs for attractions: could these be more (I'm interpreting) dignified? Director of Content and Learning Angela McFarlane answered this one again in a positive sounding way but I had a similar impression that maybe not much notice will be taken.
Any other queries can be sent to the Director at: director@kew.org.
