The Horticultural Trades Association has been invited to join the Government’s Flood and Drought Resilience Taskforce, which will meet in person for the first time on Wednesday 14 October during Flood Action Week. The HTA has been calling for a more joined-up approach to managing water resilience and preparing for both flooding and drought.

Chaired by Emma Hardy MP, Minister for Water and Flooding, the Taskforce will give HTA Chief Executive Fran Barnes the opportunity to raise the challenges facing horticultural businesses and highlight the sector’s role in helping the UK prepare for increasingly unpredictable weather.

The Taskforce was established in September 2024 as the Floods Resilience Taskforce. Its expanded remit brings flood and drought resilience together, focusing on improving preparedness, coordinating action, and accounting for the experiences of affected businesses and communities.

The HTA has long called for a coordinated, year-round approach to water resilience, recognising that businesses can face both excessive rainfall and prolonged dry conditions, sometimes within the same year. The Association believes planning for these extremes together is essential to protecting businesses, communities and the environment.

Fran Barnes, Chief Executive of the HTA, said: “We welcome the first meeting of the Flood and Drought Resilience Taskforce during Flood Action Week, and the opportunity to bring the environmental horticulture sector’s experience to the discussion.

“We have been calling for a more joined-up approach to water resilience for some time. Businesses can face too much water one season and too little the next, and we need to move beyond responding to individual crises towards a long-term approach that helps us manage water more effectively throughout the year.

“Our sector has a vital role to play in helping the UK adapt to extreme weather. Horticultural businesses grow, supply and maintain the plants and trees that help cool our towns and cities and manage rainwater. But they also need reliable access to water to continue operating and delivering these wider benefits.

“We want to see practical action that helps businesses invest in water storage, rainwater capture, recycling and efficient irrigation, alongside better planning for the future. We look forward to working with the government and other stakeholders to help turn this more integrated approach into meaningful progress.”

The HTA hopes this is an important step towards a long-term UK water resilience strategy, which it has been calling for, alongside measures to remove barriers to investment in water storage and make water resilience grants more accessible to horticultural businesses of all sizes.

More than 90% of the environmental horticulture sector comprises small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The HTA believes existing planning requirements and grant thresholds can make it difficult for businesses to invest in practical resilience measures, including reservoirs, rainwater capture, water recycling and efficient irrigation.

The Association also calls for water resilience to be built into new developments from the outset, including through rainwater storage, and for the horticultural sector’s expertise in sustainable landscape design, drought-tolerant planting, and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) to be used more effectively.

As the Taskforce begins its work, the HTA will continue to press for a permanent, joined-up approach to water resilience that supports horticultural businesses, strengthens the UK’s preparedness for extreme weather and recognises the contribution of green infrastructure to more resilient communities.

Photo credit: British Garden Centres