AN AMBITIOUS project to transform a 1.5-hectare site off Dunbar High Street has been launched.

The Ridge (Scotland) CIC aims to regenerate the overgrown area to the rear of 72-88 High Street, with plans to create a community garden and occasional market.

Kate Darrah, Ridge managing director, was joined by Paul Zochowski, principal planning officer for East Lothian Council, and county MP George Kerevan at the launch.

Mrs Darrah said: “The Backlands project has been focused on clearing and opening up two historic rig gardens, which had long been neglected, unused and overgrown, as well as the similarly unloved Garden Lane.

“The ancient walls were in an advanced state of disrepair and in many places very unstable. We have been able to address this to an extent, to make limited access safe, and we plan to continue a programme of repair and restoration, to preserve this valuable piece of Dunbar’s built heritage, and to allow us to open up the site more fully to the public.

“We have started work to create wheelchair accessible paths into the garden, and hope to extend this throughout. It’s been really exciting to see the gardens being brought back into use again. We have already been able to use the space to offer a range of training and volunteering opportunities, as well as beginning to make it available to community groups such as North Light Arts.”

The Ridge is also working with Dunbar Grammar School to provide weekly work placement to students, as well as providing volunteer days.

Mrs Darrah revealed plans were now well under way to host the first market there, on Saturday, August 20.

She added: “Our plan is that the garden should continue to develop into a real community asset, showcasing and sharing our local history, offering training, volunteering and therapeutic opportunities, and hosting markets and other community events, as well as offering a beautiful space for people simply to enjoy.”

Mr Kerevan said: “I can’t believe how much has been achieved since I was last here. It was a wilderness.”

He also stressed his admiration at the group involving the wider community, with plans to make the paths wheelchair-accessible.

At the launch, Mr Zochowski gave the history of the site, which was originally vegetable gardens for the tenements in the High Street, and spaces to rear pigs.

The Ridge is collaborating with North Light Arts, and this year’s John Muir Artist-in-Residence, Kathy Beckett, has been running workshops to develop ideas for the garden, and her planting plans are on show there.

The wool she has dyed with natural plants is being crocheted into flowers by North Light Arts director Susie Goodwin, to raise funds for the Backlands project.

Mr Kerevan said he was leaving for the US on August 1 to visit the The Sierra Club environmental organisation, founded by the Scottish-American conservationist John Muir, in Washington and California.

“East Lothian certainly keeps John Muir’s memory green,” he added.