THE WAR of words over the future of Perth’s Cherrybank Gardens continued yesterday with a claim that it might be time for Scotland’s Garden Trust (SGT) chief executive Peter Fairlie to step down.

Reacting to criticism by Mr Fairlie of the council’s role in the failed Lottery bid to establish the Calyx project, Councillor Willie Wilson said, “Members of the public are now saying to me perhaps it is time for a change at the top in SGT.”

Mr Fairlie had said that a lack of council support for the Calyx had played a part in the loss of the £40 million investment in Perth and the subsequent decision to close Cherrybank Gardens with the loss of 13 jobs.

He singled out Councillor Wilson in particular for “inflating” the visitor numbers to Cherrybank and said the council had refused short-term funding to keep it open for another season.

In response Mr Wilson said yesterday, “Peter Fairlie’s criticism of the council beggars belief. We have consistently supported the Calyx project for five years. This has involved lending them nearly £1 million over this time.

“If we had not continued this level of support the project would never have even got off the starting blocks.

“It is grossly unfair to lay the blame for the Lottery bid failure at the council’s door.

“At no time have we had a direct approach for funding to support Cherrybank Gardens from SGT. If we had it would have been considered in the normal way.

“We did have a bid to continue the Calyx project after the Big Lottery Fund announced they would not be supporting it but we felt it was not appropriate to continue with this bid at that time.

“The Calyx has received strong support from all political leaders of all political parties on the council over the years.

“I personally have devoted a lot of time and energy to supporting the project, both as the local councillor for Oakbank where the gardens are and also now as a member for Perth South.

“The visitor figures I have quoted are those given to me by SGT—if they are wrong they have got them wrong.

“How can a successful heather collection billed as the core of the Calyx go from great success to unviability in six months?

“The whole matter is extremely distressing for the excellent staff at Cherrybank who do a first class job.

“I would again encourage people to turn out on Monday at 11am for the mass visit to Cherrybank and I look forward to meeting them then.”

Following a meeting with Mr Fairlie yesterday Perth MSP Roseanna Cunningham MSP and MP Pete Wishart expressed their anger and disappointment with the developments.

“The situation that has developed over the last week has been a great disappointment to us,” said Ms Cunningham.

“There are no circumstances under which either of us will countenance closure of the famous heather gardens at Cherrybank.

“I am in no doubt that the garden was a gift to the people of Perth from Diageo and there is absolutely no way that there should be a question mark over their future just because the Calyx project did not get the Lottery funding it was promised.

“I fear that this is now going to end up in a legal dispute and I will be getting hold of a copy of the agreement from 2003 under which Cherrybank came under the control of Scotland’s Gardens Trust to satisfy myself in terms of what it actually says.”

Mr Wishart added, “The situation at the Calyx has descended into an unseemly argument about who said what that now threatens to engulf Cherrybank.

“Many of us gave very strong support to the Calyx bid and while the eventual collapse of the project if it failed to get funding was always a possibility, this threat to the future of Cherrybank was not a situation we ever envisaged we would be in.”

Following the meeting with Ms Cunningham and Mr Wishart, Mr Fairlie said, “The council have repeatedly refused to commit funding to make this project a reality but the fact that visitor numbers to the gardens are averaging only 16 per day shows it isn’t viable without major investment and that’s why we’ve been forced, very regrettably, to announce closure.”