As visitors to Fruit Forum will know Defra has decided that the National Fruit Collections will remain at Brogdale. Defra awarded the management contract for the Collections from April 2008 to the University of Reading, who will work in partnership with FAST (Farm Advisory Service Team) now based at Brogdale and Brogdale Collections, the social enterprise company set up by the landlord to manage the visitors.
There were five bidders for the Defra management contract, three of whom wished to retain the Collections at Brogdale and two that wished to move them to another site. The latter included the bid from Imperial College, East Malling Research and the Brogdale Horticultural Trust who wanted to relocate the Collections to East Malling, some twenty miles away.
Followers of this subject may like to listen to an interview with the chief executive of East Malling Research and his comments on the decision, which are posted on Kent TV, the county’s on-line television service.
To watch the video go to: http://www.kenttv.com/programmes.php?PID=669
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