Bader Garden group
adopts new identity

Fife Herald
10 July 2008 By Liz Rougvie THE ambitious garden planned for Cupar in memory of war hero Sir Douglas Bader has been re-named as the group behind the project awaits the outcome of its lottery funding bid. Project manager Andrew Gold confirmed this week that the Douglas Bader Community Garden, which was given outline planning permission last October, is now to be known as the Bader Enabling Garden in an attempt to more accurately reflect what the group is trying to achieve.
Mr Gold said they wanted to get across to the wider community that the project wasn't a 'glorified allotment', but an important educational and training resource.
He said: "The name change came about because it was felt that the Douglas Bader Community Garden didn't get over the scale of the project and the type of activities planned.
"The garden will offer volunteering, education and training opportunities, and we are working with Elmwood College with a view to establishing a course that would lead to a recognised qualification.
"We felt that the Bader Enabling Garden better conveyed the fact that it will be there for people to use."
Meanwhile, the group expects to hear this summer whether its application to the Big Lottery Fund has been successful.
Mr Gold said he didn't want to tempt fate but was 'relaxed' about the outcome and was confident that in time critics of the project would have a change of heart — including Cupar Community Council, which has expressed doubts about its sustainability.
He said: "It is unfortunate that we haven't had the support of the community council, but I have every confidence that they will eventually come on board.
"I have no doubts about this project going ahead. After all, it is based on a public consultation involving 10,000 people which produced extremely positive results."
The Douglas Bader Garden project was first proposed in 2003 on a much more ambitious scale, when plans were announced to create a £5million world-class visitor attraction on the site of the existing garden for the disabled in Duffus Park.
Since then, it has been decided to take a phased approach to the scheme, with the first phase costing an estimated £2 million.

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