Facelift as land-feud garden prepares to reopen to public

Council chiefs have ordered a clean-up of the John Livingstone tomb in Church Hill following a legal ruling earlier in the summer that the local authority owns the garden.

Residents in the area were furious last year when Joanna and John McCoach fenced off the garden at Chamberlain Road, claiming it belonged to them.

The garden, around the tomb of 17th century botanist John Livingstone was renovated by the council, along with Greenhill and Church Hill Residents' Association, in 1999 at a cost of several thousand pounds.

It became a popular haven for local people, who enjoyed the peace and quiet.

But after the McCoaches bought a former nursing home next door to the tomb in 2004, they fenced the area off, claiming they had documents to prove the land was theirs.

They also planted a row of fast-growing leylandii trees across the front of the memorial garden.

In June, however, the Registers of Scotland ruled the land is owned by Edinburgh City Council.

The McCoaches have appealed against the decision, but their case could take up to a year to be heard.

Now the council has decided to remove the trees blocking the entrance, bring the garden back under control and open it up to the public. The work is expected to take place in the next two to three weeks.

Council environmental services convener Bob Cairns said: "We were always confident that this area was owned by the council and I am pleased that this has now legally established.

"We will now clear the area around the John Livingstone tomb and erect a fence that will allow public access but at the same time preserve the integrity of the property at 1 Chamberlain Road."

Merchiston Liberal Democrat councillor Sue Tritton said she was delighted the garden was being opened up to the general public again.

"Not only have people been disappointed not to be able to go and sit there, they have had to watch the deterioration of what was a beautiful little garden." Meanwhile, the McCoaches have been refused planning permission to remove the gate into the garden and fence off the tomb with railings.

A Scottish Executive planning reporter upheld an appeal by Mrs McCoach to be allowed to build stone pillars and wrought iron railings in front of the house at 1 Chamberlain Road. But he ruled out extending the railings in front of the tomb.

The original planning application attracted 48 objections, including the Greenhill and Church Hill Amenity Association and Edinburgh South Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Pringle, all of them complaining about the blocking off of the tomb.

The inquiry reporter Maurice O'Carroll said it was not up to him to decide the ownership issue.

But he said the representations he received left little doubt that public access to the tomb and garden had been "highly prized" by a large number of people for many years. He added: "It is most desirable in my opinion that those features should again be made available, if possible, however the ownership question is decided."

And he said granting planning permission for the part of the proposed works in front of the tomb would "compromise an important public interest" and go against the council's policy of retaining features which contribute to the character of a conservation area.