ANYONE WITH an interest in the St Andrews Botanic Garden is being encouraged to get involved in a community discussion about its future.
A meeting of Friends of the St Andrews Botanic Garden was held this week to consider the future of the site.
The garden is owned by St Andrews University and operated by Fife Council through a lease, which is due to expire in September.
The garden is a renowned centre of botanical diversity, just off the Canongate.
Fife Council official Grant Ward told the meeting that at present the council supports the garden with about £300,000 per year.
However, due to financial pressures, the council is contemplating a significant reduction in the budget that it can allocate to the upkeep of the garden, and so the lease cannot be renewed on the current basis.
St Andrews University vice-principal Stephen Magee said they are willing to renew the lease, but must receive a convincing business case to demonstrate that a sustainable future for the garden on reduced public funding is possible.
Robin Waterston, chair of the Friends of the Botanic Gardens, noted that a report prepared by the Morrison Fairlie consultancy last year proposed the formation of a new Trust to manage the facility, with the possible sale of parts of the site to provide a capital base to generate recurrent income.
Since then a steering group consisting of members of the Friends and the Garden Education Trust has been considering the options.
The meeting agreed to support the work so far of the steering group and to authorise it to submit comments and recommendations to the council and the university by June 1.
There was little enthusiasm for sale of parts of the land and there was a strong feeling that a public fundraising campaign should be launched.
Dr Waterston said: “We shouldn’t underestimate the challenge ahead of us.
“We have a marvellous garden. The education trust do outstanding work with adults and young people across Fife and beyond. It is a four-star attraction and a sanctuary for a number of endangered plant species.
“But making the transformation to a better-known centre with additional facilities and many more visitors on a reduced level of council grant will be hard work.
“The steering group will continue working on the preparation of a plan . . .
“We have launched a new forum for community discussion of these matters that can be accessed through our website www.st-andrews-botanic.org.
“I would encourage all with an interest in the future of the garden to take part in this.”
A St Andrews University spokesman told The Courier: “The university does not have the resources to take on the annual running costs and for some time has had no scientific or academic need of a botanic garden.
“We have, however, pledged to work . . . to look at possible solutions. If they are able to produce a viable independent business plan, we have said that as the landowner we are prepared to sell a part of car park next to the garden and use the proceeds of sale to provide an endowed income to a trust, run by local people, to secure the future of the gardens.
“In support of that possibility, we applied some weeks ago to Fife Council for planning permission in principle for the land at the Botanics.
“A sale of a parcel of land would only realise maximum value if it came with planning permission for housing either in place, or a reasonable expectation that it would be granted.
“We acknowledge, however, that the Friends may not support the sale of any land and may decide to pursue other options, such as fundraising.”
malexander@thecourier.co.uk