Dumfries Veterans Garden and the Crichton Trust’s board are to work together towards establishing a partnership agreement and a business plan.
Both bodies met on Monday to iron out mounting issues between the two bodies and to seek a way forward.
The veterans want a permanent lease at the Crichton – which, they say, was promised four years ago when they moved there from Carnsalloch – rather than the new month-by-month deal which prevents them from applying for large grants.
They also want to be involved in the potential restoration of dilapidated grade B-listed glasshouses – which have not been used in 40 years.
Described by both sides as “a very positive meeting,” it was agreed that members of the Crichton Trust board will visit the Veterans Garden next month to work on the partnership agreement.
It was also agreed that business plan meetings are to revolve around a “community garden project” with “a view to the Veterans Garden Dumfries taking a lead partnership role in the The Crichton Community Garden”.
In a joint statement they said they had a shared goal to now work together to bring the glasshouses back into use with support from Dumfries and Galloway Council.
The local authority leases the Crichton site to the trust, which manages the estate, and that deal is until 2141.
Monday’s meeting also included discussions on having more talks to “firm up on a future tenancy arrangement” with the potential for the veterans group running a community garden on behalf of the trust.
Council convener Malcolm Johnstone, who attended the meeting, said afterwards: “I saw two organisations wanting to understand and help each other, and thanks to those that were there, come up with a direction of travel that our council could support.”
The authority’s Armed Forces Champion, Archie Dryburgh, added: “I have seen the potential of improving a long and fruitful relationship, however this is the beginning of a very important road to that. The partnership agreement and business plan development will take time to be drawn up, and I will be there to support this going forward.”
Tam Muirhead, chairman of the Veterans Garden, said: “We are now able to move forward with our supporters with the aim of bringing the greenhouses back into full use supported by the Crichton Trust.
“This is a positive start to a new, clearer partnership, where understanding the needs of each other’s organisation will be at the centre.”
Gwilym Gibbons, chief executive of the trust, insisted both sides were “seeking the same goals”.
And he added: “I am confident that, through working together, we can deliver the benefit of a hugely important and exciting shared project – a community garden for all who wish to visit, grow, recover and develop their horticultural skills.
