Lease agreement offers new hope
Hopes that Georgie City Farm could be saved has taken a step closer with a new agreement with Edinburgh City Council.
The local authority this week agreed a 25-year lease with Gorgie Community Farm Ltd, paving the way for more statutory funding.
The much-loved Gorgie Farm shut to the public in 2023 after failing to secure funding amid the running costs crisis.
Since then campaigners and councillors have been trying to find feasible ways to reopen and sustain the charity.
Last year a report said capital funding was rquired to make the farm sustainable and that the amount could be as high as £5m.
The new lease comes with conditions but one councillor told the meeting that the more help that could be given the more that would dilute the risk.
The committee heard that extra council funding would probably be better considered as part of the wider council’s upcoming budget decision in a fortnight’s time, rather than being seen as a grant to the winning bid which had not been part of the deal offered in the initial stage of seeking bidders.
Local ward member Ross McKenzie, told the committee: “It has been incredibly challenging to get to this stage. Much of that work to secure funding has already been done. In the meantime the organisation that you are being asked to give to lease to has no money, no staff, no seed funding.
“If we hand this lease to a new organisation with no money then we increase the risk of the project failing and those risks are pretty substantial.”
Fellow ward member Councillor Dan Heap, who seconded the plea for funding said: “We are opening a new chapter for one of the most loved community assets in the city. We are making a good start but it should not be the end of council involvement.
“We need to show support beyond just giving the lease. We need to put our money where our mouth is . It is still a council owned site. We’re proposing a small investment hat will make that job just a little bit easier.”
The company, which was formed to manage and run the site, promised to ensure the farm would remain “a functioning asset to which the community will enjoy access”.
The group admitted last year that, if successful, returning any animals – previously the most popular element of the free attraction – would not be possible for several years because of costs.
The charity intends to run community workshops and events, starting from February, with the intention of opening a coffee kiosk and children’s play space by May this year.
The city farm will be partnering with another Community Interest Company – Edinburgh Forge – which provides woodwork and metalwork tools, facilities and training.
Edinburgh Forge will relocate to Gorgie from their current base in Fountainbridge and the new space will allow them to offer adults and youths the chance to engage in “hands-on creativity in woodworking, metal working and other crafts”.
