We are in the final stages of drafting our ‘Community Asset Transfer’ application to NHS Lothian which we plan to submit within the next few weeks, along with the business plan that we are developing with support from Community Enterprise. We will publish these here once they have been submitted.
Many thanks to everyone who completed our recent community survey. The survey received 346 responses and these have been vital in refining our plans for future development of garden and the activities we hope to offer in years to come. These will centre on further development of the garden as a therapeutic space, a growing space, a learning space and a biodiverse space. These survey responses were in addition to the nearly 1500 responses to last year’s survey canvassing support for taking the garden into community ownership. This elicited hundreds of supportive comments which have been an inspiration to read.
Once the garden is in community ownership and we have security of tenure, we want to develop the infrastructure through connecting to water and electricity supplies, installing a compost toilet, constructing secure storage space and an outdoor classroom/shelter, repairing and securing the polytunnel area and improving disabled access. This is vital to enable us to reintroduce more formal training programmes, particularly in conjunction with Dunbar Grammar School and The Ridge as well as our aspiration to offer more structured therapeutic gardening opportunities in conjunction with Dunbar Medical Centre and others.
Once our application is submitted, NHS Lothian will have up to six months to consider if it provides ‘best value’, taking into account not just the purchase price but the long-term ‘social value’ and community benefit that community ownership will provide. The legislation assumes that asset transfer applications will be approved unless the public body can show ‘reasonable grounds for refusal’.