Two �guerilla� gardeners have vowed to continue their fight to grow vegetables on derelict land despite losing the first stage of a legal battle against Scotland�s largest local authority.
Two "guerilla" gardeners have vowed to continue their fight to grow vegetables on derelict land despite losing the first stage of a legal battle against Scotland's largest local authority.
Douglas Peacock and Karen Chung of the North Kelvin Meadow Campaign were summoned to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday after flouting an eviction notice enforced by Glasgow City Council.
They are among dozens of campaigners in the city's west end fighting to remain on former playing fields, disused for 20 years, which the council wants to sell to a property developer for flats in a £12m deal.
However the sheriff ruled in the council's favour, granting the continuation of an interdict which prevents Mr Peacock and Mrs Chung from carrying out certain duties on the land including erecting new vegetable patches.
More than 700 people including Alasdair Gray and Louise Welsh have signed a petition opposing the closure of the allotment site, which lies between Clouston Street and Kelbourne Street.
Despite the setback, campaigners have vowed to return to court to raise a fresh legal challenge against the council.
Mrs Chung said her case will be based on a motion passed by Glasgow City Council in October 2008, that encourages the public to make use of derelict land for crop production, while acknowledging that new developments may stall in the current recession.
Campaigners have also launched an appeal against the eviction order with the local government ombudsman.
Mrs Chung said: "It is a clear case of the council saying one thing and then prosecuting good honest citizens for doing exactly what they have suggested.
"There is also a health and safety issue. This land was strewn with syringes and broken bottles and we have cleaned up the site.
"People in the area had asked the council repeatedly to clean up the area."
The gardeners recruited local families to improve and clean up the site, which has also been turned into an orchard with wild flowers, a vegetable patch and composting area.
They have signed up to the Landshare initiative run by TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his River Cottage firm, which aims to unite volunteer gardeners with landowners and derelict sites in urban areas.
The project also earned praise from a Scottish criminology expert, Dr Laura Piacentini, who said last month that it would be "folly" to evict the gardeners from the area.
The campaigners also argue that waiting lists for allotments in the west end of the city can be up to seven years.
Patrick Harvie MSP, the Scottish Green Party co-convenor said: "On one hand the public is being encouraged to grow more food naturally and to take pride in public spaces.
"The local authority should be overjoyed to work with a community like this one. The fact that they are taking them to court instead of supporting them shows that Glasgow City Council's priorities are about as wrong as they could be."
Glasgow City Council says the group is effectively using the land without consent and on July 15 served it with an eviction notice.
It wants to sell the land to property developer New City Vision for the creation of 115 flats and homes.
The authority says the development will provide family homes, a park and fund new playing facilities at the corner of Queen Margaret Drive and Maryhill Road.
A spokesman for the council said it was pleased with the outcome of the hearing, which had reinforced the local authority's argument that the group are acting without consent on council property.
