Working on brightening up Barclay Corner
The Friends of The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links need your support so that they can get grant funding to spruce up a messy corner in Edinburgh.
Heather Goodare has lived near Barclay Corner for around 9 years and has witnessed it becoming a bit careworn over the years. The council have explained that there is no money in their current budget to spend on any improvements in this area, so she has decided to take the matter into her own hands. Along with architect, Neil Roger, and other members of FOMBL, she is hoping to fundraise around £20,000 needed to lay a footpath and landscape the area to make it a bit more attractive for everyone who uses it.
The concrete bollards around the grass are forever being knocked down, and there is a path worn into the grass by pedestrians. The idea now is to make it a more pleasant place to walk, cycle or push a pram or wheelchair.
Heather and Neil are part of the Friends of The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links (FOMBL) and they want to apply for at least some of the funding from Waste Recycling Environmental Network (WREN), but in order to get that money they have to prove that they have community support. So that is where you come in. If you are interested in this project, then would you take two minutes to sign the petition which you will find on the FOMBL website? There is also a hard copy of the petition which they are taking around the doors in the locality, but it would be heartening for them if you would add your name to the list of those who would like to see this improvement go ahead.
Local councillor Sandy Howat said:-“I fully support FoMBL in looking to improve the public amenity and visual beauty of a special and sacred part of Edinburgh life: The Meadows.
That is not to say that redeveloping this small area is without its dissenters. There is a golf course just a short distance away and Mrs Goodare told The Reporter that she knows full well that, for safety reasons alone, the golfers would prefer that pedestrians just keep off the course. Cyclists would like a cycle path made alongside Glengyle Terrace so that they can stop cycling the wrong way up a one way street. The council do not really want to put a dropped kerb at the corner either, but Mrs Goodare told The Reporter these are all minor matters that they are confident of working around with the help of the Council, once they get the funding.
Living so locally, Mrs Goodare has already done a bit of guerrilla gardening in the last couple of years, and is responsible for the lovely flowers in the tub sited on the grassy area at the corner of Glengyle Terrace. Now though the plans are a bit bigger than just some flowers. The proposed plan and other photographs are displayed below.
We interviewed Mrs Goodare about the need for a petition to be signed in support before the cut-off date of 14 November 2012:-
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We then spoke with Neil Roger about the reasoning behind the works:-
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This is Neil’s latest, though still preliminary, plan for refurbishment of the area.
