Shawfair team supports community gardening group

Shawfair LLP, the joint venture partnership behind the new town in Midlothian of the same name, is supporting the efforts of the Danderhall and District Guerrilla Gardeners, a group of volunteers working tirelessly to improve the area, to clear weeds without pesticides and to adopt areas in the Danderhall and District, the area neighbouring Shawfair.

The Danderhall and District Guerrilla Gardeners is a group of local residents, who volunteer regularly, giving up Sundays and evenings, to work in and around the community, weeding, tidying up shrub beds and verges. The group also plants up communal areas to enhance their appearance and to help build habitats to encourage wildlife into the areas of green space.

Most recently, planters, donated by a resident, and planted up by the Gardeners, have been installed in the area by the church hall at Newton Church Road, which borders the Shawfair development. The hope is that their work will inspire residents to undertake garden projects of their own, to encourage a diverse range of bees, butterflies and other wildlife.

The initiative is being supported with the offer of equipment and financial support from Shawfair and its partners and contractors. So far, the group has received support for its work from security firm JSL and civil engineers, RJ McLeod. Housing developer Stewart Milne has donated £250 to help the volunteers with their valuable work. The group is currently working to plant gardens in the cottages on Edmonstone Road at the entrance of Stewart Milne’s new development. Following some work adjacent to the Dandara site, the group have been offered a shed, to be supplied by Dandara and constructed by Carymar Construction Services, to store their equipment.

Nick Waugh, a director Shawfair LLP said: “Shawfair is keen to be responsive to the needs of the community as it grows. We are pleased the gardening group has emerged and local people are feeling proud of their neighbourhood and community. We have several large landscaping schemes and public spaces planned as the housing developments and larger infrastructure improvements are built.

“In the meantime, we are delighted volunteers are taking time to improve the green spaces. We are pleased to be able to help them with sites and equipment to carry out their fantastic work.”

Irene Archibald, coordinator of the Group said: “We are really proud of our work to tidy up the area without using pesticides. We are now able to spend time further improving with planting schemes using donations and help from the community.”