Gorgie City Farm: New farm to open in spring

Gorgie City Farm went into liquidation in November with the loss of 18 jobs

A new farm is set to open on the site of the troubled Gorgie City Farm in the spring, BBC Scotland has learned.

Three charities have been shortlisted to take over the Gorgie site in Edinburgh with the successful bidder being announced in mid January.

Mental health charity Love Learning and a consortium led by homeless charity Cyrenians are in the running to start up a new farm at the site.

The farm went into liquidation in November, with the loss of 18 jobs.

A skeleton staff remains on site to care for the animals.

A Save Gorgie Farm Gofundmepage has now been closed after reaching its target of £100,000.

The new farm would be created on the site with a new name.

It is understood the public would not have access to the farm straight away and that the new owners would have to operate without council funding in the first instance as they would have missed the deadline to apply.

Gorgie City Farm was a working farm with about 50 pets and 50 livestock which were slaughtered with the meat then sold at the on-site cafe.

Love Learning's chief executive Lynn Bell told BBC Scotland the charity planned to turn the farm into a therapy petting zoo.

She said: "We are really excited to be shortlisted.

"We want to bring love back to the farm starting with not slaughtering the animals but instead having all of them as therapy pets.

"It means the vulnerable families that come can love the animals and they can love them back."

She added that the corporate side of the organisation would fund the charity-run farm.

She said if her charity was chosen it would run a syntropic farm project at the site to reduce carbon emissions and would plant trees around the perimeter.

She would also look at making the animal enclosures larger and have lots of free roaming animals on the site.

There would also be a food bank and a social enterprise cafe with training programmes.

She said the word "love" would be in the new farm name.

Expertise and skills

Ewan Aitken, Cyrenians chief executive, said: "We are working alongside Royal Highland Agriculture Society of Scotland, Penumbra, the Corra Foundation, Thrive Edinburgh Assembly (NHS Lothian), Aberlour and SAOS (Scottish Agriculture Organisation Society) and other individuals to help find a way forward for Gorgie City Farm.

"Working together as a coalition will not only give us access to a range of expertise and skills, but will help ensure resilience, keeping Gorgie City Farm at the heart of the community, providing opportunities and services to those who need them most.

"We are hopeful that together, we can find a way forward that ensures Gorgie City Farm can reopen to all whilst allowing us to build on the support the farm provided, creating a multi-faceted space for the local community."

Adam McVey, City of Edinburgh Council's leader, said: "I held a positive meeting this morning with the liquidator, Edinburgh Community Farm and local councillors.

"We all heard first hand the encouraging updates regarding the farm's future and it's great news that three interested parties have been invited to submit detailed proposals next month.

"We'll continue to work closely with the liquidator over the coming weeks to ensure these organisations have all the relevant information they need and buy into the values of volunteering, supporting disadvantaged communities, education, farming and providing a sustainable future for the site."

Ashley Graczyk, whose council ward covers the far site, said: "I'm immensely delighted with the short list and progress going forward. As the Sighthill-Gorgie ward councillor, my main priority is to ensure our well-loved urban farm continues its legacy as a unique piece of Scottish countryside in the heart of Edinburgh.

"Our local community farm is invaluable to the local community and beyond with huge benefits it has on people's physical and mental health, community cohesion and local environment. It is particularly great for children who live in the city, as they rarely get the chance to see and learn about real farm animals."

Local councillor Gavin Corbett, said: "After the shock of the farm's sudden closure on 1 November it is good to see signs of real progress in making Gorgie Farm Mark 2 a reality.

"As I understand it there is a bit of work to do still in weighing up the merits of different approaches but I would expect to see that done within the next month. It is vital that whoever takes over really gets what people loved about Gorgie Farm: public access, education work, volunteer opportunities for all abilities and the fact that it has been a working farm.

"I hope we are now getting towards a happy conclusion to a difficult time."