St Margaret’s Park’s Bowling Green

Community Garden at St Margaret’s Park

In 2023, Edinburgh Leisure returned several disused bowling green venues to the City of Edinburgh Council, including the one in St Margaret’s Park. Following this, the Parks and Greenspace team has been exploring opportunities to re-purpose these venues. 

Ongoing consultation identified that a community growing space, sensory garden, and petanque court are key priorities.The feedback period for the Consultation and Engagement Hub closed on 8 June 2024.We received a total of 193 responses to the consultation on the Consultation Hub. The results showed strong overall support for the proposals, with most respondents agreeing that the proposed design would make the park feel more welcoming and accessible, benefit both people and nature, and meet the needs of the community. On the Consultation Hub you can find detailed information about the consultation. 

Following co-design work with the Friends of St Margaret's Park, Corstorphine Community Council, Corstorphine Primary School, and the wider community, we have developed several ideas for how these spaces could be improved and re-integrated back into the park. Our landscape architects at Atkins Realis have visually developed these ideas further, and you can see here the Re-Imagining St Margaret’s Park Bowling Green – Thriving Greenspaces

Since then, we have been exploring the next steps to take this work further. This includes a comprehensive review covering cost estimates for reopening facilities like the toilets and pavilion, as well as exploring options to activate these spaces in a way that benefits the community. We have been working with the community throughout this to ensure that we are aligning with their needs, and to agree priorities together.  

Expressions of Interest 

In December 2024, we advertised expressions of interest for a group to take on the responsibility for creating the new community growing space.

We received wonderful ideas and applications, and extend our thanks again to everyone who applied. The review panel, including liaisons from the community council and members of the Friends of St Margaret’s Park committee, selected Earth in Common as the preferred partner to move ahead with.  

About Earth in Common 

Earth in Common, an environmental charity based in Leith, addresses food system issues, climate change, and social inequality. Formerly known as Leith Community Crops in Pots, they promote urban crofting to reclaim urban green spaces for community food growing and education. Using their expertise and responding to the findings from our consultation, they plan to work with the community to implement the following: 

  • Food-growing opportunities 
  • Biodiverse nature zones 
  • Sensory components  
  • Social seating areas  
  • Recreational areas 

Find out more about Earth in Common on their website: Earth in Common | Environmental Charity | Scotland 

Funding

A total of £50,000 from the food-growing budget has been allocated to create the community growing area. We are also applying for additional funding to bring the full vision to life.   

The Pavilion  

We are aware that the pavilion has experienced more vandalism in the past few months and are aiming to start repairs and renovations to the building as soon as possible. Once repaired and due diligence completed, the pavilion will be used to support the community growing activities in the bowling green – a space for volunteers, storage, toilets, etc.  

How to get involved 

The next phase—community engagement and the set-up of the growing space—will begin this month. Earth in Common will be attending the Friends of St Margaret’s Park Picnic in the Park on Saturday 21 June, from 11am to 3pm. Come along and enjoy the barbecue, join activities such as tree planting, and share your ideas for the new community growing space. If you’re able to attend, it will be a great opportunity to meet the organisation and learn more about what’s happening next. 

We’re excited about the next steps in this project and will continue to provide updates on this page. 

For further details, please contact thrivinggreenspaces@edinburgh.gov.uk.  

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