The Edinburgh Reporter March 2022

4 NEWS
Dynamic Dandelion
Growing gardens will show the power of collective action
By OLIVIA THOMAS
GARDENS WILL transform unexpected places
in Edinburgh in a new nationwide creative
project - Dandelion - demonstrating the power
of collective action and rediscovery of the
connection to the food we eat.
The Edinburgh Agroecology Coop (EAC) will
partner with creative arts programme,
Dandelion, to grow an Unexpected Garden at
Lauriston Farm, and in addition a floating
garden will tour the canal network in Scotland
docking at The Helix in Falkirk until September.
The whole programme will pop up all over
the country in a range of activities and festivals.
Thousands of seeds and plant plugs will be given
away so that everyone can have a go at growing.
The 100-acre Edinburgh site at Lauriston will
give members of the EAC and volunteers on the
site the chance of experimenting with farming
practices and nurture indigenous and existing
plants.
The EAC will work closely with North
Edinburgh Arts on the project as they invite
residents and wider communities to come
together to learn and grow.
Commissioned by EventScotland and funded
by The Scottish Government, Dandelion is
Scotland’s contribution to UNBOXED:
Creativity which is a UK-wide programme. The
project is driven by the concept of “Sow, Grow,
Share” – not just food but ideas, music, scientific
knowledge, and community.
Dandelion will take a unique approach to
growing, and brings together artists, scientists,
performers, and technologists to present events
and programmes throughout Scotland,
including the Unexpected Gardens, and the
project will culminate in hundreds of harvest
celebrations later in the year.
The events will bring new life to community
libraries, car parks and tidal sites from the
Western Isles to the Borders, the Unexpected
Gardens will be a highlight of Dandelion, from
April to September this year.
UNBOXED’s Chief Creative Officer, Martin
Green said: “UNBOXED celebrates creativity in
its widest sense, placing it at the heart of people’s
everyday lives, as Dandelion is doing across
Scotland this summer. As a project, Dandelion
is literally about sowing seeds for the future,
which we hope will inspire local communities
and the next generation. It’s part of a
programme of five brilliant projects taking place
in Scotland as part of UNBOXED this year,
which combine art, science and tech, offering
amazing events and experiences for everyone.”
A spokesperson for Lauriston Farm said:
“Lauriston Farm is delighted to be part of this
nationwide project that celebrates the diversity
of growing, people and places. Having the
opportunity and support to create a unique
garden and cultural programme that connects
community, art and food is fantastic and
enhances pathways for creative engagement in
the farm. We're looking forward to welcoming
lots of people to explore and participate in the
garden and activities at the farm.”
dandelion.scot
New builds are in high demand
SCOTLAND’S HOUSE-BUILDERS
published National House Building
Council (NHBC) data showing there
were 12,599 new home registrations
in 2021, a 43% increase on 2020.
Compared to the eight-year-low of
2020, where registrations fell to 8,810,
the sector experienced a significant
rebound as it emerges from the
pandemic. New home completions
also showed a significant uplift in
Scotland, increasing by 29% from
8,584 in 2020 to 11,063 in 2021.
The pandemic has caused some
change in attitude towards housing,
with more people using their home
for work, as well as reflecting on their
recreational and family life.
Registrations for detached, semidetached,
terraced homes and
bungalows all increased in Scotland
in 2021. Numbers of detached
homes rose from 3,822 in 2020 to
5,974 in 2021.
NHBC Regional Director for
Scotland, Raymond Baxter said:
“Scotland’s new build housing
market remains positive, particularly
in the central belt, with strong
demand partly fuelled by weak
supply in the second-hand market.
“While land competition and
availability, local authority consent
delays, supply chain and labour
shortages continue to impact
production, the house-building
sector remains robust, and both
builder confidence and consumer
demand are high.”
Green spaces
underused
ACCORDING TO new research from
Lancaster University, Britain could
produce up to eight times its current
levels of fruit and vegetable production if
all available urban and under-used green
space were made available for cultivation.
Allotments are a fantastic way of
growing one’s own fruit and vegetables
and retaining a regular supply of fresh
produce. The environmental benefits of
allotments are diverse. Not only do they
allow wildlife to flourish with the
biodiversity of the area, but they provide
a welcome plot on which to recycle one’s
kitchen and allotment waste.
I have asked for a National Allotment
Viability Study to review potential land
which could be developed for allotments
and community growing spaces. I raised
this issue in Holyrood as I know these
issues are important to my constituents.
With an increase in food prices and the
cost of living generally, the opportunity to
grow food in an allotment is increasingly
attractive, and applications rose during
the pandemic. But in Lothian the demand
is far outstripping the supply.
There are an estimated 47 allotments in
Edinburgh, with 35 of those under council
control, and at present the waiting times
are unacceptable, with people being
failed by their local councils and funding
not available to rectify the issue. The City
of Edinburgh Council manages 1,586
allotments in Edinburgh, but is required
to provide another 1,500 to meet its legal
obligations set out in the Community
Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.
The role of the councils involved is to
ensure that nobody remains on an
allotment waiting list for longer than five
years. At present, 615 people in Edinburgh
have been waiting for longer than five
years and there are waiting times of up to
eight years in the City of Edinburgh, with
East Lothian standing at an astonishing 15
years. Due to increasing demand, these
issues will become exacerbated should
cash-strapped councils not act
accordingly and it is only set to get worse
with the SNP-Green government slashing
funding to local councils.
A real and unavoidable consequence of
the pandemic has been the rise in cost of
living. Greater numbers of people will
experience a decline in living standards in
the foreseeable. Rather than relying on
increasingly expensive supermarket
items, the right to own a plot of land to
grow fruit and vegetables of their own is
something the people of Lothian deserve,
and I intend to stand up for that right.
Miles Briggs MSP for Lothian