1 Bellfield

The people of Portobello have achieved a Scottish first – the first urban community buy-out granted by the Scottish Government. Bellfield Church is a landmark building, dating back to the start of the 19th century. When the Church of Scotland decided to merge three of the parishes in the area, it was closed as a place of worship. But the community wanted to turn the building and its associated halls into a space for the community. This is the story so far - and a summary of the first podcast

 

Bellfield Church lies in the heart of Portobello. The Church of Scotland announced back in 2013 that it would be made redundant. A range of developers came to look at the site - but walked away because it had a graveyard. They wouldn't be able to turn the property into flat in the way they hoped.

The last minister of Bellfield published a paper in which he suggested that it would make a good environmental centre, being close to Portobello Prom on the John Muir Way. Round about the same time, the Scottish Government announced plans to allow urban communities to buy land or properties important to the area, in the same way that rural communities had for many years.

A group of people led by Justin Kenrick decided to take action and set up first Friends of Bellfield and then Action Porty to convince local people that buying the old church would be viable.

Justin Kenrick

Within a few days, Action Porty had gathered some 500 members and a public meeting was held to decide how to proceed. It was very well attended. Listen now to the podcast from that meeting. There are two versions from different archive sources.

The Bellfield Podcast
The Bellfield Podcast