Growing fury as BBC takes an axe to Jim McColl’s Beechgrove Potting Shed

HE HAS been a household name for BBC Scotland for decades thanks to his advice as the instantly recognisable face and voice of its gardening programmes.

But Jim McColl has been left enraged after his popular weekly programme was given the chop in the latest round of cutbacks at the corporation.

The veteran broadcaster has accused BBC bosses in Scotland of “insulting” its listeners after it was announced that The Beechgrove Potting Shed, a feature of the Radio Scotland schedule for more than 20 years, will finish at the end of this year.

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McColl is furious after the BBC proposed replacing the weekly programme with inserts into Fred MacAulay’s show, as well as a “kitchen garden” programme to be broadcast in the summer.

The 77-year-old – one of several gardening experts to appear on the programme – has accused his bosses of devoting “obsene” amounts of time on the airwaves to coverage of Scottish football matches.

McColl’s intervention has triggered a new row over cutbacks at BBC Scotland, with MSPs demanding a fresh rethink over recent proposals that have put 35 jobs at risk.

The shake-up that led to the scrapping of The Beechgrove Potting Shed, which is broadcast live from the BBC studios in Aberdeen, has also seen popular DJ broadcaster Tom Morton’s daily show axed from the schedules. He will, however, have a weekend programme in future.

In a letter to Jane Fowler, editor of speech-based programmes at Pacific Quay in Glasgow, McColl described the cutbacks as “draconian”, accused the BBC of relegating gardening coverage to “inserts and packages” and described its proposals as “an insult”.

He told her: “This decision to decommission The Potting Shed is quite propitious for me, since I am bound to retire one of these days; maybe this is the start of the process.

“The real victims in this ‘new approach to gardening’ are the unsuspecting punters. Who does the talking-up for gardening at these discussions when the big decisions are made? Who keeps themselves informed about this UK-wide multi billion pound industry and its customers?”

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McColl told The Scotman of his dismay that a dedicated gardening programme would no longer be part of the radio schedule for the first time since the early 1970s. He said: “Football is an easy target, but surely we could have afforded to lose an hour of football coverage.

“I’m a fan of the game myself but the Off the Ball programme with Stuart Cosgrove and Tam Cowan is just puerile, with everyone roaring at each other all the time.

“It’s very sad that nobody is actually championing the subject of gardening any more on Radio Scotland, when it is such a big part of everyday life for so many people.”

The BBC has insisted it was developing a “new approach to gardening and horticulture” across the Radio Scotland schedule. Ms Fowler had told staff working on the programme: “The Potting Shed will be decommissioned at the end of December. I realise this will come as a shock, as it has been so much a fixture for many years and you, the voices who have brought it alive.”

In a response to McColl’s letter, Ms Fowler insisted the BBC wanted to retain the experts who currently appeared on the programme, which goes out at lunchtime on Sundays.

She added: “We don’t want to lose you and we don’t want to lose your expertise. Gardening remains a part of Radio Scotland and we hope you will too.”

A BBC Scotland spokesman said: ‘It is inevitable that there will be some disappointment among listeners when schedule changes are made. However, we have to make difficult choices given the financial constraints.”

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However, Jenny Mollison, secretary of the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society, said: “It’s not good enough to expect people in Scotland to make do with gardening programmes in England, as it has a completely different climate.

“Interest in gardening has never been higher and there are growing waiting lists for allotments right across the country.”

Kevin Stewart, SNP MSP for Aberdeen Central, said: “The Beechgrove Potting Shed is a tremendous show, with fans throughout Scotland. There will be a number of people upset to see this programme come to an end.

“The BBC could easily save some money by cutting back the huge pay packets of some of its stars like Jeremy Clarkson, who are making millions of pounds.”

BBC Scotland has faced a growing rebellion from unions and politicians since news of cutbacks emerged several weeks ago, with First Minister Alex Salmond intervening to demand talks with bosses.

Culture secretary Fiona Hyslop, who has called the scale of the cuts “unacceptable,” yesterday insisted an independent Scotland would “certainly have a share in the assets of BBC Scotland”.

But she confirmed that the SNP would not elaborate on its broadcasting proposals until the final year of the referendum campaign.

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Ken Garner, a senior lecturer in media and journalism at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: “It’s always difficult to make cuts, but none of these decisions inspire confidence in the judgment of BBC management in Scotland.

“Axing journalist posts everywhere, especially in the east and Highlands, looks nonsensical and politically inept at a time of impending huge news demands on the corporation in Scotland with the forthcoming referendum.”

Letter from Jim McColl to Jane Fowler,editor of speech-based programmes at BBC Radio Scotland.

Dear Jane,

I’m not sure where to start but hasten to make the point at the outset that my comments, as made on the phone too, are not for the messenger!

This decision to decommission the Potting Shed [PS] is quite propitious for me since I am bound to retire one of these days; maybe this is the start of the process. With that in mind, what I am about to say is NOT about me or for me. It is about the role of gardening in our society and the BBC’s apparent reluctance to continue to highlight its importance.

It is sad to hear that the PS is to be discontinued in the New Year but all good things must come to an end. They say stop when you are ahead and reports on performance are still good, with queues of callers on the line. Programmes do have to evolve and maybe it was getting to the time for a different format. I accept that, we’ve been through the procedure several times since I started broadcasting in the mid seventies.

The financial constraints being applied within the BBC are pretty draconian and there is certainly plenty coverage in the daily press, I accept that the suffering has to be shared. Lay people can understand that too, on the other hand it does defy logic to see at least three reporters, all capable of speaking the same language, on duty outside the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, in the same camera position, to inform the world that there was no news yet about when HRH Prince Philip would return to Balmoral!

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The real victims in this ‘new approach to gardening’ are the unsuspecting punters. Who does the talking-up for gardening at these discussions when the big decisions are made? Who keeps themselves informed about this UK-wide multi billion pound industry and its customers?

Who keeps tabs on what is actually happening out there, let me mention a few: The resurgence in allotment gardening, school gardening is ‘flying’ at the moment, community gardening embracing large numbers of people changing their local environment, improving biodiversity and in the process improving fitness and diet, raising awareness of climate change.

I happen to be one of the patrons of the horticultural charity Trellis, involved in horticultural therapy for people with learning difficulties, I’m involved with Gardening Leave, the charity helping military personnel returning from war with serious mental problems. ALL about gardening. So, BBC Scotland is going to relegate the radio coverage and constant advice to inserts and packages!

Aberdeen will become a centre for social history and environmental science, had I another half day I might just be able to explain the important role of plants and gardens in both categories. This is not a joke, it’s an insult.

So the subject will be part of the MacAulay and Co recipe. My experience of that does not bode well – Will you do a piece on fruit trees? Could you come in to the studio? It will be about 3 – 4 minutes. I make the 40 mile round trip, sit with the cans [headphones] on, we’ll be coming to you about ... and sure enough the item lasts for about 90 seconds! ‘Nuff said. The Kitchen Garden will be a summer series when gardening is a 12 month job. So where is the continuity in that formula? Will both programmes be in daytime slots? How many working people will be able to hear them?

Out of Doors (brilliant programme) and/or Landward MAY cover horticulture, aye right.

Now if we were to cover the broadcast hours per week devoted to football, we might look at the value of football to the Scottish economy.

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As reported by BBC Radio Scotland last week, the 47,000 fans attending a Rangers game probably exceeded the number attending all other games put together!

Meanwhile that UK spend in gardening at £3 – 4 billion annually of which 10% comes to Scotland (I’ll leave to you to do the sums) that probably promotes this pastime, hobby, obsession, call it what you will, to top of the league yet the BBC in Scotland cannot even sustain a one hour programme covering the subject.

We need a healthy dose of objectivity when making these decisions and politics should be kept out of it.

That’s the lot Jane, I could not have forgiven myself if I sat on my hands.

Yours aye,

Jim