Thursday 17 September 2009

Unprepossessing in Porty or... Bath Street Bombsite... (Portobello)

On heading down Bath Street (off Portobello High Street) towards the promenade... there's a site that's been vacant for years...


















Get a little closer...






Find a gap at the side of the fencing and squeeze through...








Penetrate the jungle and debris...













And lo and behold.... what do we have 'ere then??







A tarmacked hell or could this be turned into a wildlife h(e)aven...?








The very least we could do I suppose is liberate the bench and pots??



This site is privately owned but the owner has been in touch with PEDAL (http://www.pedal-porty.org.uk/) and is amenable to the site being turned into some kind of community garden. PEDAL have contacted us to see if we would be interested in taking this project on?

Would be a big undertaking but on the plus side we would have the backing of PEDAL and the owner...

If we leafletted the local area (where there are obviously some very keen gardeners), we could get local residents involved...

There is grant money out there for this kind of venture which PEDAL may be able to access for us. The owner may well be prepared to pay for the cost of skips etc to get the site cleared. Needs a lot more thought and consideration.... A meeting with the owner would be a good starting point and to have a proper look round the site. May be a good project to consider for the New Year? Let me know what you think!

2 comments:

  1. How is this progressing?

    Checked PEDAL & nothing been posted there since Oct.

    Would be v interested in helping to get things moving as just along the street.

    Have some experience in terms of how long it takes to get things 'moving' & would hate to miss the Spring.

    Calum

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  2. calumac, send an email to the @live.co.uk address at the top of the page and we'll give you the lowdown. Also, check the calendar for latest tilth and filth dates. We'd love to have you on board.
    It would appear that the owner is more interested in getting free labour to clear the site than developing it in any meaningful way.

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