Aberdeen residents have been urged to protect a community garden in one of the last remaining green spaces in their area.
Members of the Garthdee community are working with Gwen’s Garden Project to preserve more than six acres of council-owned land at the junction of Garthdee Road and Auchinyell Road, which has been earmarked for housing as part of the next Aberdeen Local Development Plan.
Current proposals indicate 50 flats and 15 homes could be built at the site, but council officers have intimated this could be limited to 20 houses to allow room for some community planting – a proposition the authority has labelled “desirable.”
However, the Gwen’s Garden Project team has its own plans to expand the existing vegetable and plants garden and has also been investigating the potential to reforest the area with native trees to increase biodiversity.
The proposal to allow housing development was published as part of the authority’s Main Issues Report which will be used to inform the preparation of the city’s next local development plan.
And, in a last-ditch attempt to save Gwen’s Garden, members of the community are urging people to share their views with the council – before the consultation period on the proposals closes today.
Garthdee-based brothers Benji and Joseph Espindola established Gwen’s Garden Project in 2017 in memory of a close friend’s mother, who used to spend a lot of time on the land and walk her dog there.
Benji Espindola said: “We need all residents who have a view on this proposal to take part in the public consultation and make their views known to the council.
“We will do what we can to protect and preserve the area but we need help.”
Residents can provide feedback on the Aberdeen Local Development Plan Main Issues Report, including the Garthdee proposal (B1101), online at:
https://consultation.aberdeencity.gov.uk/planning/mir2019/
