When we last spoke to Chris Tolley in 2023, he was leading RHS Harlow Carr’s journey to embed sustainable travel into the heart of the visitor experience. We caught up again to hear how the garden has blossomed since achieving Good Level Modeshift STARS accreditation, and how the Royal Horticultural Society is continuing to champion active and sustainable travel across its five UK sites.
‘I joined the RHS in March 2022, as the Sustainable Travel Executive and I was focused on travel and transport for all five of our RHS sites, and was well placed to lead on our travel plans and the Modeshift STARS project. Since the beginning of this year, my role has changed a little and now I’m the Sustainability Advisor, however we are still developing travel plans and focusing on sustainable travel and transport, but now I’m also looking at other things as well, like procurement on our supply chain and how we can make that more sustainable.
At the RHS we also do a lot of charity work across the UK and we work with community groups to promote gardening across the world. Commercially, our main focus is the five gardens, including Harlow Carr where we have three big shows a year, with the most well-known being the Chelsea Flower Show in London.
I’m working on travel plans for all our gardens and also across the shows as well, but the Harlow Carr site is the first to be accredited to the Modeshift STARS scheme. We got involved with STARS as we were contacted by North Yorkshire Council who have a Business Licence. They invited us to use their licence to develop the Travel Plan and we jumped at the opportunity to gain accreditation.’
Incentives
With around 100 staff, 100 volunteers, and almost half a million visitors each year, travel planning plays a crucial role in making Harlow Carr more accessible and environmentally responsible. The garden’s close proximity to Harrogate town centre offers great potential for active travel – with safe walking and cycling routes and a public bus service that stops just five minutes from the entrance.
The RHS offers a clear incentive for visitors to travel car-free: a 30% discount on admission for anyone arriving by bus, bike, or on foot. We promote the discount widely. It’s on social media, our website, and around the site itself. We also work with Good Journey, who promote car-free travel to attractions across the UK.
Making Travel Planning Easier with Modeshift STARS
Reflecting on the process, Chris says, ‘When you first start, the biggest challenge is getting all your information into the system and understanding how it works. But once you get going, the Modeshift STARS platform makes developing a travel plan so much easier than producing static reports. It’s live, interactive, and prompts you to review key data regularly- it keeps you accountable.
Support from North Yorkshire Council and the Modeshift team was key in getting started, and Harlow Carr quickly saw the benefits of using STARS to manage, monitor, and improve its sustainable travel offer.’
Looking Ahead
Chris’s advice is clear: ‘I’d definitely recommend Modeshift STARS for organisations like ours. It’s really helped us understand how people travel to our sites and identify realistic opportunities for improvement. It’s also strengthened our relationship with our local authority and opened up new ways to collaborate.’
The RHS isn’t stopping there. Chris and his colleagues have already extended their Modeshift STARS membership to the RHS Hyde Hall site in Essex and plan to develop travel plans across the remaining gardens.
‘I’m quite competitive,’ he admits. ‘As soon as the accreditation window opens, I’m ready to review our plan and see what we can do to move to the next level!’
