The decision by St Andrews University to lease its botanic garden to a trust at a peppercorn rent of £1 in the hope that the gardens can be maintained as a viable attraction is a “step in the right direction” that raises a number of questions, Councillor Brian Thomson said.
On Wednesday the St Andrews University Court considered a business plan prepared by the Friends of the Botanic Gardens that proposes the gardens be leased to a new trust.
The university has consistently stated that it has no strategic need for the garden, which has been leased to and operated by Fife Council for the past 25 years.
The council has given notice of its intention to end the lease from September.
Noting, however, that the council will shortly consider a motion from Mr Thomson that the council should extend its funding for the garden for a further two years to give a new trust the chance to find its feet, the court agreed:
* To grant the council or an appropriately-constituted trust a free lease of five years in the first instance, rolling thereafter, for the operation of the site as a botanic garden.
* That to ensure good governance and the independence of the trust, the university should not be a member of the trust.
* That the lease to the trust apply to the cultivated garden and that other areas of the site, such as industrial yards and non-cultivated areas, remain in the university’s ownership and control for disposal, if it sees fit.
* That the university continues to have significant concerns about the long-term viability of the botanic garden and the lack of detail in the business plan, given the consistently low numbers of visitors and users and that the business plan, as currently drafted, proposes increased costs;
* That the university continue to provide financial support to the St Andrews Botanic Gardens Education Trust.
Stephen Magee, vice-principal, external relations, said: “Although for many years the university has had no academic or strategic use for the botanic gardens and cannot afford to take on the running costs, we are very sensitive to their importance to a number of people locally, as are Fife Council the current operators.
“In agreeing to grant a rolling lease to a new trust, we hope that we are giving people who care deeply about the garden the chance to develop a sustainable plan for its future.
“It would be wrong and enormously unfair to them, however, if it was now assumed that the hard work had been done and the future secured. That is far from the case.
“We would like to take this opportunity to stress again that the garden cannot succeed or survive unless it is used and visited by far more local people, tourists and visitors than is currently the case.
“If it is formed, the new trust will need the practical and real support of all those who have signed petitions in support of the garden.
“We believe that the friends know, as do the university and Fife Council, that it is a case of use it or, very regrettably, lose it.”
Mr Thomson told The Courier: “First and foremost, it is good news that the university court has agreed to grant a lease to a new trust; however…it raises a number of questions and there is clearly much work still to be done to ensure that the botanic garden has a viable future.”
A spokesperson for the Friends of the Botanic Garden told The Courier: “We are delighted to be able to carry on the lease but we acknowledge that the hard work starts now.”