Councillors to vote on plan to give public access to Edinburgh’s private gardens

Councillors in Edinburgh are set to vote on plans to open some of the city’s private gardens to the public, with one councillor saying “the health benefits of green areas is clear”.

Scottish Greens councillor Dan Heap has lodged a motion calling for the consideration of a scheme for shared private gardens to be opened voluntarily to the public.

The party suggested the council could help owners’ associations with any additional maintenance, cleaning and insurance requirements this could generate.

The council’s Culture and Communities Committee is set to vote on the motion on Monday.

Mr Heap, who is the party’s communities spokesperson, said Edinburgh has a number of private gardens that are comparable in size to public parks.

“The health benefits of green areas is clear, yet some people in our city don’t have good access to gardens or parks,” he said.

“At the same time, large greenspaces such as those on Queen Street are closed to the public.

“They are unhelpfully called gardens, but are comparable to public parks in terms of their size. Queen Street Gardens, for example, is almost 20 acres.

“We are suggesting the Council explore with owners where these might be opened up to public use.

“This is by no means an experimental idea.

“St Andrew’s Square is a private garden, but the public have rightly had access to it since 2008.”

The party pointed to data from the Scottish Household Survey showing adults from the most deprived fifth of Scotland are 13% less likely to have access to green or blue spaces, and 20% less likely to visit such spaces.

The proposal was welcomed by Edinburgh Central MSP Lorna Slater, who said the green spaces could be “transformative” if the public were given access to them.

“People living and working in built up areas across Edinburgh deserve to be able to spend time in green spaces, but the very nature of city life means that many don’t have local parks or their own garden to enjoy,” she said.

“These green spaces could be transformative if we allow public access.

“It is an opportunity to let people spend more time in nature, and I am delighted that Green councillors are bringing this proposal.”