Green bid to push for Edinburgh's private gardens to be opened to public narrowly rejected

The city's culture and communities committee voted 6-5 against a motion from Green councillor Dan Heap suggesting a scheme for large private gardens in places like the New Town to be opened-up voluntarily to public access, possibly with council help on any increased maintenance, cleaning and insurance needed.

Cllr Heap said some of the city's most beautiful green spaces were locked behind gates to 99 per cent of the population. "It just doesn't feel right," he said.

Fellow Green councillor Alys Mumford pointed to St Andrew Square garden which, although privately owned, had been open to the public since 2008. "It's now a widely-used and much loved space. If we were to tell lots of people that didn't used to be the case they'd be very surprised."

But Labour committee convener Margaret Graham said that although the gardens under discussion were not directly connected to houses, they were still people's gardens. She said St Andrew Square was different because the owners were all businesses.

And she said: "Every community in Edinburgh has access to excellent parks and green spaces."

Conservative councillor Tim Jones said the proposal sounded like a "land grab" and should be "vigorously opposed".

And City Centre SNP councillor Finlay McFarlane said he feared the motion raised expectations which would not be fulfilled. The council had tried to engage with owners in Charlotte Square about opening the garden there to the public, but got nowhere.

After the vote, Cllr Heap said the council had "squandered" an opportunity to improve public access to some of the city’s biggest private gardens. He said the proposal could have helped tackle unequal access to green space in Edinburgh, particularly for people living in tenements, flats and built-up areas without gardens of their own.

He said: “Today was a missed opportunity for Edinburgh. Our proposal was modest, practical and rooted in common-sense. We were not asking the council to force gardens open. We were asking officials to explore how a voluntary scheme could work, with proper support for owners around maintenance, cleaning and insurance.

“St Andrew Square shows that this kind of approach can work, and it is disappointing that councillors have chosen not to even explore it. Greens will keep working for a fairer city where access to nature is based on need, not property wealth.”

Edinburgh Central Greens MSP Lorna Slater, said: “Everyone in Edinburgh should be able to access nature and enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits that come with it, whether or not they have a garden of their own.

“As an Edinburgh MSP, I know how precious our city’s green spaces are. Opening up more of them, even on a limited and voluntary basis, would make a real difference for people living and working in built-up communities."

And she accused Labour, the Tories and Lib Dems of choosing "to protect exclusive access for some of Edinburgh’s wealthiest residents, rather than even explore a modest proposal to share more of the city’s green space".

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