The public has just one more day to sign a petition calling on the Scottish Government to intervene over Geilston Gardens.
The 200 year-old gardens near Cardross were first threatened with closure by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) two years ago.
A Friends group of NTS members, volunteers and local residents was formed to try and save the gardens, which were left to the public by Miss Elizabeth Hendry.
They have challenged some of the criteria used by the NTS in reaching its decision, and hope to work with the trust to come up with an acceptable plan that would allow the gardens to remain open to visitors.
Now John Hanks has submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament on behalf of the Friends, urging to urge the Scottish Government to meet with NTS to discuss the role it can play in the context of the national tourism strategy, Tourism Scotland 2020 and, within that, the future of any trust property under threat of closure, such as Geilston Garden.
Signed by 278 people so far, the petition closes tomorrow.
The Friends say that NTS properties have a high proportion of UK-wide and international visitors so must contribute significantly to the total visitor numbers to Scotland.
They add: “The scale of threatened closures is not known to the general public, but as individual cases become known, they are each likely to generate negative publicity, and this drip feed of negative publicity may adversely affect the public’s view of Scotland as a tourist destination.
“Of course, not all NTS properties under threat of closure will have a local Friends group to champion the cause of keeping the property open.
“The Friends group notes that the Scottish Government supports Tourism Scotland 2020, which is the industry led national tourism strategy.
“The strategy aims to make Scotland a ‘first-choice destination for a high quality, value for money and memorable customer experience delivered by skilled and passionate people’, and has several targets associated with increasing the scale of the tourism industry.
“Heritage and nature are certainly two important strands to this strategy, and both are exemplified by Geilston Gardens and other NTS properties.
“The Friends group believes that the Scottish Government is well placed to meet with the NTS in the event of any proposed closure of NTS properties, to ensure that, as far as is possible, these closures are kept to an absolute minimum, in line with the aims and objectives of Tourism Scotland 2020.”
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