SUNTRAP GARDEN - SAVE OUR SUNTRAP

Open Day

Sunday 27^th May 2012

Suntrap Garden

10.30am – 4.00pm

Plants for Sale

Garden Advice, Demonstrations,

Tours of the Garden

Botanical Art Exhibition and Sale

Face Painting, Children’s Gardening

Tea and Coffee, Home Baking

Adults: £3, Children: Free. Free Parking

All Proceeds go to Friends of Suntrap

Suntrap is situated between the A8, RBoS HQ and the A71; Heriot-Watt University (Park and Ride). Lothian Buses 25 and 34 , Horsburgh 40043 Gogarbank, Edinburgh, EH12 9B

ON THE 1ST OF MARCH 2012 HISTORIC SCOTLAND GRANTED MILLBUIES HOUSE, DOVECOT AND COMPOST SHELTER  CATEGORY B STATUS IN THE SCOTTISH MINISTERS’ LIST OF BUILDINGS OF SPECIAL ARCHITECTURAL OR HISTORIC INTEREST.

THIS IS VERY EXICITING NEWS AND IS A BOOST TO OUR CAMPAIGN.

LATEST NEWS FROM SUNTRAP:-  PUBLISHED IN EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS SATURDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER 2011

Suntrap supporters get growth in funds

 

Published on Saturday 10 December 2011 13:27
CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save the historic Suntrap Garden have received a £57,000 boost towards their bid to buy the site.

The three-acre oasis in Gogar is being sold by joint owners the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) and Oatridge College for £700,000.

Save our Suntrap is hoping to buy the land and secure the future development of the garden.

Campaigners believe the owners will not be able to sell the land for £700,000 in the current climate and are “hopeful” they will be able to secure the land for a smaller price tag.

In the meantime, they are asking if they can rent the land while negotiations continue.

Isobel Lodge, chair of Save our Suntrap, said: “We are very pleased with the money we have been awarded. We are now looking for match funding and are doing various fundraising activities. We don’t think in today’s climate £700,000 is reasonable. What we are looking to do is to get it for a peppercorn rent in the meantime.

“We are hopeful we can get the site, particularly now that we have got this £57,000.”

Campaigners revealed earlier this year they were hoping to eventually raise £1.5 million to expand the gardens.

Their proposals for the future include creating a living museum in Millbuies House, a refurbishment of the Italian sunken garden, a new cafe, water sculptures and a children’s educational garden.

Mrs Lodge added: “We don’t feel that we need to aim for £1.5m straight away – that’s part of our ten-year plan. What we really need is to get ourselves kickstarted.”

It was announced last year that Oatridge College would have to give up the garden – which it used as a training site for amateur gardeners and people with severe learning difficulties for more than 25 years – after being faced with a £750,000 repair bill. The NTS was this week granted planning permission to change the use of the gardens and buildings from educational use back to domestic use.

But campaigners do not believe the decision by the council’s planning committee will affect their plans to keep and expand the garden, which was created by philanthropist and amateur gardener George Boyd Anderson in 1957.

He bequeathed it to the NTS and the old Edinburgh Corporation in 1972. In 1984, upkeep of the site was handed over to Oatridge College. It became a Centre for Lifelong Learning in 2001.

The £57,000 was awarded to Save our Suntrap through the George Boyd Anderson Trust “in the event that the house and gardens continue to be made available for public use, for repairs to the house and surrounding garden”.

City education leader, Councillor Marilyne MacLaren, said: “This decision is in keeping with the tradition in which the Boyd Anderson Trust was set .

On the 27^th October 2011 Isobel Lodge, Chair of Save Our Suntrap (SOS) and two other members of the Committee attended the City Chambers to present a motion on behalf og Suntrap Garden.

Council Motion on Suntrap Presentation

Thank you for the opportunity to make a short statement.  I am Chair of the Save Our Suntrap – SOS Group and Secretary of the Friends of Suntrap which was the first Friends Group to be constituted within the National Trust for Scotland.  The SOS Group comprises representatives of both national and local organisations.  The Group has been campaigning for a year to save Suntrap, a garden gem of approximately 3 acres, situated at Gogarbank.

Suntrap was donated to the people of Scotland for the education of people with small gardens and for forty five years has provided a community resource and for ten years has been a centre of excellence in horticultural training of people with learning difficulties.  It is hoped that, in the future, the special therapeutic role of the Garden could be developed to extend this role to other groups in need of tranquil garden space.

The original owner, George Boyd Anderson, was a visionary who created a pioneering green home and garden buildings which incorporated solar energy and insulation features on the site in the late 1950s.  The SOS Group has proposed the property to Historic Scotland for Listing and the consultation period is nearing an end.  It is hoped that the property can be recreated as a living museum.  A number of items were removed by Edinburgh Corporation after the owner’s death and have not been traced.

Boyd Anderson gifted part of his garden to the National Trust for Scotland in 1966-their first venture into gardens.  On his death, he bequeathed Millbuies, his family home and the part of the surrounding garden to Edinburgh Corporation.  In 1983, a Conservation Agreement was established whereby NTS withdrew from the Garden.  From 1984, the Garden was managed by Oatridge Agricultural College.  The Millbuies site was formally transferred to Oatridge College in 1992.

In June 2010, Oatridge College decided to abandon the Garden because of changes in the College’s financial situation and the upper part of the Garden was returned to the NTS.  Both of the current owners, ie the NTS and Oatridge, are seeking to sell the property.  We do not think that when the Millbuies site was handed over to the College by the Local Authority there was any conception that the College would sell the property at a later date.

SOS intends to establish a Charitable Company or SCIO, Suntrap Garden, to manage the Garden and develop its potential as a public resource.  A Business Plan has been produced and funds will be sought from sponsors and funding sources.  The Garden is currently maintained by volunteers.  In view of the Local Authority’s historical links with the property and the importance of the Garden as a community asset, we are asking for the help and support of the City of Edinburgh Council in negotiating a satisfactory arrangement with the owners which would enable the Garden to remain open for years to come.

Mrs Isobel Lodge Chair of Save Our Suntrap and Secretary of Friends of Suntrap

This motion was carried, without debate by the Council. Great progress for Save Our Suntrap!

This was followed by a press release:-

City to draw up report on garden’s fate – Published on *Monday 7 November 2011 12:08*

A REPORT has been ordered into the future of the historic Suntrap Garden in Gogar.

The Friends of Suntrap have already announced plans to try to raise £1.5 million so they can buy the three-acre oasis at Gogar, which has been put up for sale by its joint owners the National Trust and Oatridge College.

And a motion by Labour councillor Ricky Henderson calling for a council report detailing the history of the facility, legal status of its ownership and options for future management has been approved.

Cllr Henderson said: “I was delighted to get my motion on the Suntrap campaign unanimously agreed.

“A small deputation from Save Our Suntrap attended and it was good to be able to get the message over to all councillors and agree for a report to look into the wider ownership issues and options for future management arrangements.”

An application has been submitted to Historic Scotland for prevent Millbuies House, which is situated in the lower part of the garden, from being demolished for redevelopment. We hope to hear the outcome of this application soon.

SOS has received the support of many Politicians and MSPs, most of which have visited the Garden and made favourable comments.