Right to Grow proposal for Edinburgh

Councillors in Edinburgh have supported a proposal to work towards a Right to Grow for the city. Officers will now work on a report to explore how a Right to Grow could work for the city, following recognition by the council that there is a shortage of opportunities for food growing in the city, and that the cost of living crisis is impacting “the ability to afford good quality fresh food”. Officers will look at how council-owned land could be made available for community growing projects through the use of straight-forward, free leases.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Hal Osler, who put forward the motion, believes Right to Grow is an important solution for making use of part of the city which are underused while tackling important social issues; “There’s large expanses of just space that’s locked away, that’s got fences around it and it’s basically just neglected or abandoned. We are massively in a cost of living crisis, there are enormous problems with that of people being able to afford food.But also another aspect about growing food that’s really, really important is people having a connection to it – actually understanding where your food comes from.”