If stricken Italy can reopen nurseries, why not Britain, beg desperate garden centres
PRESSURE grew on ministers to reopen garden centres yesterday in line with other countries which have allowed them to operate during the lockdown.
From Austria to Australia, Switzerland to Holland, businesses are open. Even Italy – the country worst hit by the pandemic – is reopening its garden centres.
Martina Schullian, president of Italy’s trade association, said: “For the first month [of lockdown], garden centres were closed and we could only deliver.
“We are now open again but with strict security and safety measures. It is important to restart.”
Iain Wylie, the head of our Garden Centre Association, said: “If Italy can allow garden centres to reopen with appropriate social distancing, why can’t we?”
James Barnes, chairman of the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), hit out at the “illogicality” of supermarkets and DIY centres being allowed to sell plants while garden centres are being forced to stay shut.
Neil Stevenson, 59, managing director of orchid specialists Double H Nurseries in the New Forest, said: “I cannot see any reason why garden centres should not be opened. There’s just as much space in garden centres as in supermarkets.
“We mainly supply supermarkets, so we have been less affected by the lockdown but I feel for colleagues in the industry. I back campaigns to persuade the Government to reopen centres and nurseries.”
Demand from gardeners is so high that Matthew Skinner is making 1,000 deliveries a week from Sussex nurseries trying to find ways to sell their stock.
Mr Skinner, 39, who set up Hope Plants in Chichester with his fiancee Camilla Chapman, said: “We’ve only been going five weeks and we’ve made 5,000 deliveries of fresh plants from nurseries.
“Gardening is such a valuable activity for people, especially for their mental well-being. It gets people out in the garden and in the fresh air.”
The garden centre and nursery industry is worth £24billion but the HTA warned last week that one in 10 businesses faces going bust by the end of June, and one in three by the end of the year without state intervention.
Yesterday it detailed how other countries were letting their growers continue to trade with safety measures enforced.
In Austria, garden centres were allowed to reopen from April 14 as long as social distancing was observed. Switzerland allowed DIY stores, garden centres, flower shops and plant nurseries to reopen last Monday. Australia has allowed its garden centres to continue trading both for fruit and vegetables and ornamental plants.
Mr Wylie urged ministers to follow the example of these countries. He said: “In the Netherlands, they have allowed their centres to stay open while successfully maintaining safety requirements.
“This has let their industry stay in business and provided the Dutch people with the plants they need and the chance to get precious exercise in the open air.
“It is also frustrating for our
members that supermarkets and DIY centres are allowed to be open and sell garden products.
“It is much easier to maintain social distancing at most garden centres than in supermarkets.”
Mr Barnes said the HTA had been working with the Government to develop guidelines to allow nurseries to reopen.
He said: “We would urge the Government to look at how other countries have opened their garden centres with the correct measures in place and review their decision to keep garden centres closed here.
“There is an illogicality to the disparate nature between the retailers that have been allowed to open and those that haven’t.
“The HTA has been working with operators to design specific and strict social distancing guidance that will allow them to open safely.
“However, while reopening garden centres will provide some immediate relief, it will not be enough on its own.
“Growers need an urgent Dutch-style stock compensation scheme from the Government that reflects the scale of the losses incurred and is simple and easy to administer.”
Earlier this week, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab,told MPs that the Government scientific advisory body Sage is keeping restrictions on garden centres “under very close review”.