Is Leith Short Of Public Open Space?

The draft Open Space Audit for Edinburgh has been published and it contains some interesting facts about how Leith compares to other parts of the city.

Firstly, Leith has the least amount of open space per person of any part of the city, a fact that must give some extra weight to our call for more open space in the proposals for regenerating Leiths waterfront. Perhaps because we have relatively little green space Leithers seem to want to make the most of it. According to the audit Leithers also also have more play facilities nearby than any other part of the city. Apparently 90% of Leithers live within 400m of a public open space.

However, as the audit has largely been completed as a desk job using satellite imagery and clever computing, there are some things that the audit cannot assess. If the space near to you is a poor quality pocket park, like the one below, how likely are you to use it? Or, if the local play facilities are run down and covered in graffiti, how likely are you to use them?

This park on Bothwell Street needs help...Most of the parks in Leith, especially the smaller ones, are looking a little ragged round the edges to say the least, so we hope this Audit will provide council officials with a good case to argue for more investment in our parks and open spaces.

The council is keen for more people to feed into the audit process. We understand that the planners are particularly keen to hear opinions from people on areas that are not high profile parks - for example cemeteries, cycle paths, and so on. There are three ways that you can have your say on the draft Open Space Audit. City planners will have a stall at Leith Festival Gala day. They'll also be running an evening workshop on Tuesday the 16th of June in Leith Academy at 6.30pm. But if you can't make either of those events, don't worry - you can have your say on-line by clicking here.

Lastly, for the map lovers amongst you, the council have produced an interactive on-line map showing all the open space in Edinburgh. You can play with it here.