Save St Andrews Botanic Garden......

St Andrews Botanic Garden is under threat of closure due to insufficient funding. It was established by St Andrews University in the early 1960s and for the past 25 years has been leased to the local Council who have funded its maintenance and development as an educational and community facility. The lease runs out later this year and the Council is no longer willing to cover all of the running costs.

The Garden is an absolute gem and a wonderful biodiversity resource. It contains 8,000 living plant species, i.e. ~3 times the total number of plant species occurring naturally in Britain. These are displayed in diverse open habitats (Heath, Rock, Woodland and Water) and a range of different glasshouse environments (Tropical, Temperate, Alpine and Hot Desert). It is located in the midst of St Andrews and is open daily to the public!

You can sign a petition against the closure of the Garden by going to http://www.st-andrews-botanic.org and clicking on "Sign the Save the Garden Petition". Couldn't be easier. The petition closes on 5 May and will be presented to the University in June together with a business plan for the Garden's future development.

Dr Daniel Barker
Lecturer in Biology
University of St Andrews

--
Daniel Barker
http://bio.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/db60.htm
The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland :
No SC013532

On 4/27/2013 10:42 AM, wrote:
Save St Andrews Botanic Garden......

St Andrews Botanic Garden is under threat of closure due to insufficient funding. It was established by St Andrews University in the early 1960s and for the past 25 years has been leased to the local Council who have funded its maintenance and development as an educational and community facility. The lease runs out later this year and the Council is no longer willing to cover all of the running costs.

The Garden is an absolute gem and a wonderful biodiversity resource. It contains 8,000 living plant species, i.e. ~3 times the total number of plant species occurring naturally in Britain. These are displayed in diverse open habitats (Heath, Rock, Woodland and Water) and a range of different glasshouse environments (Tropical, Temperate, Alpine and Hot Desert). It is located in the midst of St Andrews and is open daily to the public!

You can sign a petition against the closure of the Garden by going to http://www.st-andrews-botanic.org and clicking on "Sign the Save the Garden Petition". Couldn't be easier. The petition closes on 5 May and will be presented to the University in June together with a business plan for the Garden's future development.

Dr Daniel Barker
Lecturer in Biology
University of St Andrews



The money needs to be diverted to other needs.

Close it.

On Saturday, 27 April 2013 21:22:41 UTC+1, Hench wrote:
On 4/27/2013 10:42 AM, wrote:

Save St Andrews Botanic Garden......



St Andrews Botanic Garden is under threat of closure due to insufficient funding. It was established by St Andrews University in the early 1960s and for the past 25 years has been leased to the local Council who have funded its maintenance and development as an educational and community facility.. The lease runs out later this year and the Council is no longer willing to cover all of the running costs.



The Garden is an absolute gem and a wonderful biodiversity resource. It contains 8,000 living plant species, i.e. ~3 times the total number of plant species occurring naturally in Britain. These are displayed in diverse open habitats (Heath, Rock, Woodland and Water) and a range of different glasshouse environments (Tropical, Temperate, Alpine and Hot Desert). It is located in the midst of St Andrews and is open daily to the public!



You can sign a petition against the closure of the Garden by going to http://www.st-andrews-botanic.org and clicking on "Sign the Save the Garden Petition". Couldn't be easier. The petition closes on 5 May and will be presented to the University in June together with a business plan for the Garden's future development.



Dr Daniel Barker

Lecturer in Biology

University of St Andrews







The money needs to be diverted to other needs.



Close it.

It may be helpful if I outline the situation in more detail.

The land for the botanic garden is owned by the University of St Andrews. But the full running costs, of approximately GBP 300,000 per year, are currently paid by the local government (Fife Council).

Fife Council intends to decrease its contribution of funds, gradually, to GBP 150,000 per year. This will leave a funding shortfall of approximately GBP 150,000 per year.

If the University approves of the business plan that the Friends of St Andrews Botanic Garden are currently preparing to address this shortfall, the University will permit the botanic garden to remain open. The University does not intend to contribute funding; nor does it intend to charge for use of the land. If the University does not approve of the business plan, the botanic garden may close.

The petition is part of a civilized campaign, working with everyone involved to find a way to keep the botanic garden open. The more people who are known to be interested in keeping the botanic garden, the more feasible any plan is likely to be. Many thanks to those who have signed the petition.

The shortfall - GBP 150,000 per year - is a fortune from an individual point of view, but no one individual is being asked to pay all this. It is a wonderful botanic garden - definitely, I would say, among the top ten in the UK. It is extensively used for educational purposes and is well-loved in and around St Andrews and more generally in Scotland, the UK and internationally. It is one of the few calm green open spaces in a small town within which - though surrounded by golf courses and intensive farmland - there is not much open space.

Against this background, the idea of a business plan to come up with GBP 150,000 per year seems plausible. It is also a much smaller sum than would be required for setting up such a garden from scratch at some point in the future - which for practical reasons would likely be impossible in any case (with any level of funding).

Anyway: The views expressed above are mine alone. I hope they cast some useful further light on the situation.

Dr Daniel Barker
Lecturer in Biology
University of St Andrews

The petition deadline has been extended to 20 May.

You can sign the petition by going to http://www.st-andrews-botanic.org and clicking on "Sign the Save the Garden Petition".

Many thanks to those who have signed so far.

--
Daniel Barker
http://bio.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/db60.htm
The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland :
No SC013532