Currie green group gets results - Sue Webber

Working through Edinburgh Council’s wilding policy has not been straightforward, but there is now a commitment from the local authority to cut the grass verges every two weeks at the patch of land between Curriehill Castle Drive and Currievale Drive, keep the open areas down to four inches and to clear the flower meadow areas every 12 weeks after a dieback.

It doesn’t sound like much, but failure to care for common spaces quickly makes an area feel unkempt and so encourage anti-social behaviour like littering and fly-tipping - and worse.

Groups like the Currie Green Spaces, a community council subcommittee, make their presence felt across Edinburgh and without them the council wouldn’t be able to cope. But by working in partnership with willing council officers, they achieve so much to improve their communities.

So, hats off to volunteer Ken Brown for the many hours he’s put in to secure the maintenance deal and to the council’s parks department for listening to local concerns, laid out in a 25-page action plan which gave their petition real substance.

What’s needed is a clear statement of the council’s commitment to all communities, not just Currie, so local groups do not need to keep reinventing the wheel and officers know what’s expected of them.