Provender Nurseries tells MPs that green spaces must be at the heart of future planning
Tuesday 19 May
Richard McKenna, Managing Director of Provender Nurseries and member of the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), was a keynote speaker to a group of parliamentarians at a Westminster dinner to mark the start of Chelsea week, highlighting the value of green spaces and the important role they play in our health and wellbeing, our environment and our economy.
The event, hosted by the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) on Monday, 18 May, was titled ‘Green by Design: Putting Nature at the Heart of Future Planning’. Chaired by Wera Hobhouse MP, a member of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, the dinner brought together MPs, industry leaders from various sectors, and HTA representatives to discuss the barriers to green infrastructure and how they can be collectively overcome.
Richard McKenna leads Provender Nurseries, a Kent-based wholesale nursery supplying trees and plants to landscapers, garden designers and retailers across the UK. Established in 2003, with horticultural trading on its site dating back to 1982, the business plays an important role in supplying plants for urban parks, housing developments and public green spaces. Provender is also supporting several gardens at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
During the discussion, Richard highlighted the critical role green spaces play in supporting healthier communities, improving air quality, cooling urban areas, helping manage flooding and strengthening social wellbeing. He stressed that gardens, parks and green corridors must be integrated into developments from the earliest stages of planning, rather than treated as afterthoughts.
Richard McKenna commented:
“Green spaces are not simply a ‘nice to have’. They are critical infrastructure that support healthier communities, stronger local economies and a more resilient environment. If we want to build places where people and nature can thrive together, greenery must be considered just as seriously as bricks and mortar from the very start of the planning process.
“Horticulture businesses like ours are proud to supply the trees and plants that help create these spaces, from public parks and housing developments to gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show. But behind every plant is a business facing rising costs, regulation and increasing pressures. Supporting environmental horticulture means supporting the businesses that help make greener, healthier places possible.”
Richard also spoke about the need for stronger recognition of the environmental horticulture sector within policymaking, including better cross-departmental working across government and support for businesses facing rising employment, energy, regulatory and trade costs.
The discussion provided parliamentarians with the opportunity to hear directly from the environmental horticulture sector about the social, economic and environmental value of green infrastructure, as well as the importance of embedding access to quality green space into future housing and planning policy.
The HTA is a committed supporter of the IPT, an independent, non-lobbying, non-partisan charity supported by parliamentarians from both Houses of Parliament and business, aimed at educating those involved.