Charity to bring 10,000 square metres of wildflower meadows to city

A charity has launched plans to bring over 10,000 square metres of new wildflower habitat to Dundee.

The Eden Project will plant of a series of meadows across the city with the first to be located at Seabraes near to science centre and around a mile from the organisations proposed new site at the former Dundee Gasworks on East Dock Street.

Others will be planted at Camperdown Park and the Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc.

Dundee City Council have identified a further seven sites that will be developed and maintained through the Nature Restoration Fund.

These meadows will be at Magdalen Green and Dawson Park, Lochee and Myrekirk Parks, Claypotts Pond, Caird Park and Claverhouse Industrial Estate and will be planted next spring so they will be ready to start blooming in the summer of 2022.

Eden say the planting programme is part of its commitment to the city ahead of the opening of Eden Project Dundee in 2024.

The funding for the project, which will initially take place over two years, is being provided by the Alexander Moncur Trust and NatureScot.

The Seabraes meadows will allow the project to form part of the city’s tourism strategy and will create a large impact habitat for people, wildflower species and pollinators.

The developed area, around 2.4 hectares in size, will have the potential to host community markets, student pop-ups and other community events.

Dan James, Eden’s Development Director, said: “This project represents hope for a green future. Every community deserves to have green space and nature to explore and it demonstrates our commitment to Dundee to make a real difference to people and the places they live.”

Marjory Knowles, Chair of the Alexander Moncur Trust, said: “We have been setting aside some funding in each of the last three years to enable us to make a significant two-year award without detracting from out annual portfolio of small to medium sized awards.

“During 2021 the trust made 57 awards to charitable organisations which provide a service to people living in the Dundee area.

“The application we received from Eden perfectly fits our objective. Our support should pump-prime the wildflower initiative.

“The project will make a visible impact in many of the cities most disadvantaged communities and it will work with existing community groups and has the potential to be of both environmental and educational benefit.”

Denise Reed, NatureScot’s Tayside & Grampian Area Manager, said: “The wildflower meadow at Seabraes will not only be a special space for people to enjoy, but it will also help our struggling pollinators, such as bees, butterflies and ladybirds.”

The sites will also act as a hub to run creative and arts-based activities and deliver opportunities for families, young people and others to engage in cultural events.

Each of the wildflower areas will contain different, carefully selected mixes of annuals and perennial flowers, chosen due to their adaptation to local soil and environmental conditions.

In May, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Eden, National Grid and SGN to kick off a period to explore the practicalities of converting the site of the former Dundee Gasworks on East Dock Street into Eden Project Dundee.

Eden predicts that the project will create 200 jobs (with an additional 300 indirectly created) and contribute £27m per year to the regional economy.