Things may be looking up for those who want to keep the Kew Herbarium where it belongs: at Kew. Alternatively, things may be looking not so good for the supporters of the “New Herbarium Project”, the Kew director’s brainchild. Senior Kew management were reported to be furious following the leaking in October of the preliminary results of the Prospect Union herbarium impact survey in the website `The Dirt Horticulture News’, see https://thedirt.news/survey-reveals-majority-of-kew-staff-are-against-the-herbarium-move/   This showed massive staff opposition to the proposed move of the Herbarium.

Richard Deverell, Director of Kew, was heard shouting in his office and complaining that Defra are not returning his calls or emails (perhaps a case of “Don’t call us, we’ll call you”). The UK government’s autumn budget showed no evidence of the management’s requested additional project funding for Kew to support the further development of the “New Herbarium Project”.  Nevertheless, in January, Kew management will seek planning permission from Wokingham council to build at the business park, without owning the land, and without the funding to build. It is estimated it will cost the taxpayer around half a billion pounds should the project go ahead, when the remodelling of the vacated historic herbarium buildings at Kew is taken into account. The ongoing project development costs are now presumably being taken out of other Kew income and may explain why earlier this month a deficit of 0.7 million pounds was forecast for the end of the financial year. Perhaps the idea is that wasting more money will make it more likely that decision makers will conclude that this juggernaut can’t be stopped (the sunk cost fallacy). The previous government has already donated several million pounds towards the planning stage. If the new Labour government sensibly refuse to foot this massive bill when they are asked as expected in summer/autumn 2025, it may all have been for nothing, as many hope. After all, as former shadow minister for Defra, MP Steve Reed asked some tough questions about the “New Herbarium Project”. The same Steve Reed is now secretary of state at the department in charge of Kew affairs. In another encouraging sign of a potential sea change, the “change manager” appointed by the Kew management with much fanfare (and more money-wasting), and whose main mission was to soften up the Kew staff so that they would all come to love, or at least accept, the “New Herbarium Project”, has recently disappeared without anyone noticing.

The full herbarium impact survey results were made available by Prospect to staff at Kew at the end of November, including over 20 pages of detailed comments from the 228 staff that completed the survey. It is clear that it is not just Herbarium staff who are worried by Deverell’s plan to move the herbarium to the TVSP near Reading. Here is a small sample from staff elsewhere at RBG, Kew on their concerns:

A member of staff in Horticulture (the gardens): “The herbarium is not only its collection of specimens but its world-expert staff, is such an incredible, invaluable resource for horticulture staff and students, the quality and on-site accessibility of which is one of the many things that makes us entirely unique from any other botanical-horticultural institution. Ability to access and learn about Kew’s botanical collections, concerns about travel to and from the new location and financial and management support from Kew to access these collections”.

A member of staff in the Jodrell Laboratories at RBG, Kew: “For me the heart of Kew IS the herbarium and I will cease to have much emotional connection with Kew once that is gone, even if I still work there. The Jodrell, where I am currently based, is completely soulless by comparison. Logistically, I could not work at TVSP if asked, and I would think twice about remaining at Kew if everything of value moved from the London site to TVSP. It just wouldn't be Kew anymore”.

A member of staff at the Millenium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place: My well-being isn't affected, but my ability to work with the herbarium will change as day visits from Wakehurst to Reading are impossible. Members of my team are based at the herbarium so working with them will also be negatively affected.

Please support us at RBG, Kew to stop this crazy plan before the government decide to start wasting what will the first of at least £500 million of taxpayers money on an unnecessary shiny new building intended as Richard Deverell’s “legacy”. Help us avoid calamity for R.B.G, Kew and the effort to discover the planet’s plant species before they become extinct. We need more names and comments on the petition. Please send the petition link to like-minded people so that we can get more attention from the decision makers to stop this proposal.

If you live in the UK, please consider raising this issue with your MP. If you have written already, please write again since the UK has a new Labour government and there is chance now of a definite cancellation.

Here is how to do this in 3 steps:

1. Go to https://www.writetothem.com  enter your postcode and click on the displayed MP name.

2. In your own words, keeping it short and clear, tell your MP what you think about the planned move of Kew Herbarium & ask your MP to raise this with the DEFRA minister for Kew, Mary Creagh. Has DEFRA not got something better to spend £500 million of taxpayers money on?

3. Fill in your email, address and name and click on SEND.

 Please, help us getting to 20,000 names by signing and sharing the link to this petition https://chng.it/vsDT2xmKXN to avoid catastrophe and Keep the Kew Herbarium at Kew!

For further updates also follow us on Twitter (X), BueSky, Facebook or Instagram @KewKeepers. 

Please help us stop this crazy plan

Curator Botanist savekewherbarium@gmail.com