Public access to private parks in central Edinburgh
A peaceful movement for and by the residents of Edinburgh and city guests
Edinburgh is the only place in Scotland where the middle of the city is full of huge massive parks that are completely off-limits for the general public and often even for people living in the same area.
Some of the private parks are huge. Just the Regent, Royal and Carlton Terrace Gardens are taking over a 4.8-hectare (12-acre) site at the heart of the city.
While the law of Scotland mandates the right to roam even on private land, anything that is designated as a “garden” is exempt from this law.
All private parks are deliberately labelled as “gardens” to keep them locked away from local residents and guests of the city.
Sign the petition for public access to massive private parks.
Manifest
Private gardens in central city over 1 hectare must be designated as parks
Private parks must obey the right of roam law
Queen Street private parks at the heart of the City
The List of private parks of central Edinburgh with no access for the public
Queen Street Gardens
3 massive parks at the heart of the city with an impressive total size of 8 Ha - by far the largest gated green space that is completely inaccessible to most residents and guests of our city.
Regent, Royal and Carlton Terrace Gardens
A private park just off Calton Hill, almost 5 Ha in size, reducing the publicly accessible area of the Hill in half.
Dean Gardens
A massive private park of 3 Ha in size, taking up a lengthy side of Water of Leith, with open spaces under the Dean Bridge.
East, India and Royal Circus Gardens
A huge green gated space almost 2 Ha in size, completely inaccessible to most residents.
Moray Feu Gardens
Another huge green space, completely gated and inaccessible - but taking up to 1.5 Ha of city space.
Charlotte Square Gardens
While St Andrew Square was made available to the public, its opposite Charlotte Square Gardens remains gated and inaccessible to the public, while also taking 1.3 Ha of city space.
Drummond Place Garden
Almost equal in size to Charlotte Square Gardens, and equally centrally located, but gated and inaccessible to the public - while taking up 1.2 Ha of city space.
Learmonth Gardens
Located in Stockbridge and taking just over 1 Ha in size, these impressive gardens are gated and shut off from the public.
These are not parks, but private gardens - same as a garden at the back of a house
Not the same. The gardens we are asking to open for public access here are all over 1 hectare - and some - like Queen Street Gardens - take up to 8 hectares of space, completely inaccessible for most residents and guests. Often private parks are blocking pedestrian navigation, requiring you to walk around the massive park.
Would you let someone else into your private garden?
Firstly, lots of residents in central Edinburgh don’t have a private garden of any size or shape. Secondly, if a garden takes up 5 hectares of green space in the middle of a small town - of course everyone should be welcome.
So, you just see something nice and want to take it away from others?
Of course not. Ownership remains with the respective owners of the private land, in exact same way a lot of central Edinburgh is privately owned, but is accessible for general public.
Private parks are the only place where we can keep the tourists away
Putting aside the fact that tourists are also people, and literally everyone are also a tourist at some point of our holidays - tourism makes up a lot of job market here in Edinburgh. If tourists would decide one day to stop visiting, it would spell disaster for the city and everyone in it.
Who is going to pay for the upkeep?
Since the ownership remains with the respective private owners, and unless that ownership is going to be shared with the Council of Edinburgh, the upkeep will continue to be with the respective owners of the land.
Why can’t you just go to the Botanical Gardens?
Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh are far from being accessible on the same level as a park would be. And unless you live in the immediate vicinity, Botanics are much less convenient to access compared to a local park. If you are with a disability, you are even more at a disadvantage here - with private parks often available much closer and more convenient to you.
How can you possibly succeed?
Council succeeded in making St Andrew Square publicly accessible back in 2008. Before it used to be a “private garden” with no access to the general public. St Andrew Square remains private land, even though everyone can now enjoy its grounds.
It is simply in the best interest of the land owners, city, all of city residents and guests to allow public access to the private parks of New Town.
*** All questions here are real questions from people with access to the private parks of New Town.
Reading materials
Reddit discussions and quotes
A topic of massive private parks in central Edinburgh is regularly discussed on Reddit by residents and guests of the city
Even more reading on private parks in Edinburgh
"The phenomenon of Edinburgh New Town and West End's 'private parks' raises its head every so often... Rather, the term 'private' is used in a subtly different sense, one that, to my mind, allows an unfortunate use of much of the city's open space.
It is used to denote urban parks that are accessible to certain local residents only; they are not really 'gardens' as we usually conceive of them. As such, rather than private, they are perhaps better seen as public spaces which have, anachronistically, been allowed to maintain a policy of exclusive access. As such, they seem to belong in the same world as the private country club."
— Edinburgh's private parks: time for action?
"There is an ongoing debate about making the green spaces of the Queen Street available to the public. We love having a discussion between locals and visitors on our tours of Edinburgh New Town... Then there is also a change in the security requirements to consider, if the park was to become public. Think of Princes Gardens, how much less dense is the foliage to allow for passive overlooking from the street?"
— A Tour Of Edinburgh New Town Private Park
"Privately owned gardens around affluent areas of Edinburgh should be opened up to the public during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure more people can have access to green space, an MSP has said.
There are dozens of exclusive communal green spaces located around the capital’s New Town, which are only accessible to residents who live in the surrounding streets."
— Coronavirus Scotland: Open Edinburgh’s privately owned gardens to the public, urges Andy Wightman
Write to your MSP
Find your local Member of the Scottish Parliament here: https://www.parliament.scot/msps
You can use the sample draft letter below - and please make it specific to the gardens you are most concerned about.
Sample letter
Subject: Public access to central Edinburgh’s large private gardens — a workable route
Dear [MSP name],
I am writing as a constituent about public access to the large private communal gardens in central Edinburgh, such as Queen Street Gardens. On 8 June, the City of Edinburgh Council debated a motion seeking to open these gardens to the public. It was narrowly defeated, largely on the grounds that the council has no legal power to compel access — which, as far as I understand it, is correct. That is precisely why I am writing to you rather than to the council.
These gardens cover some of the largest green spaces in the city centre, in one of the most densely populated parts of Scotland, yet they remain locked to all but a small number of keyholders. Scotland’s access legislation was designed to open land to responsible public use, but section 6(1)(c) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 specifically excludes communal private gardens — the New Town gardens are cited by name in the Act’s explanatory notes.
Importantly, changing this does not require new primary legislation. Section 8 of the 2003 Act gives Scottish Ministers the power, by order, to modify these exclusions — including for particular areas or classes of land — subject to consultation and an affirmative vote of the Parliament. A carefully drawn order could, for example, apply only to communal gardens above a size threshold, while retaining the Act’s separate privacy protections around dwellings and allowing byelaws on opening hours and conduct. Alongside this, voluntary agreements (as achieved at St Andrew Square) and the council’s core paths powers offer complementary routes, but experience suggests these will not scale without movement at national level.
I would therefore be grateful if you would:
1. Ask the Scottish Government, by written question or correspondence with the relevant Minister, whether it will consult on the use of the section 8 power in respect of large urban communal gardens;
2. Raise the wider question of access to large private urban green spaces in Parliament, given its relevance beyond Edinburgh; and
3. Let me know your own position on this issue.
I recognise that garden proprietors have legitimate interests, including privacy and the considerable cost of upkeep, and that any change would need to address these fairly. But the current position — acres of green space closed to the public in the heart of the capital — sits uneasily with the spirit of Scotland’s land reform legislation, and there is a lawful, proportionate route to revisiting it.
I would welcome your reply and would be happy to discuss further.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address / postcode — to confirm you are a constituent]