Pitmedden Garden staff praised for work to allow reopening
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Employees at Pitmedden Garden have been praised by Gordon MP Richard Thomson for their efforts in recent weeks as the property reopened its gates to visitors last Saturday.
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS), which maintains the site, had not originally earmarked the garden for reopening this year.
However, the team at Pitmedden nevertheless worked to produce a plan to safely return to normal operations.
During this time, Mr Thomson made representations to NTS regarding the workers’ plan, urging bosses to give early reopening of the garden careful and favourable consideration.
Originally, NTS had planned to reopen 27 heritage sites around Scotland. However, following a £3.8 million support package for NTS from the Scottish Government, the decision was taken to reopen a further six sites, including Pitmedden Garden.
Mr Thomson said: “I applaud the staff at Pitmedden Garden for the phenomenal amount of energy they put in to their reopening plans.
"Although there is a reduced team at the moment while others remain on furlough and not all buildings are open, it was a very welcome step to see the garden and gift shop once again open to the public.
“The visitor economy is extremely important to the north-east and our local heritage assets are a huge part of that.
"This has been a challenging time for the National Trust for Scotland even without the recent restrictions, so the additional Scottish Government funding to support the trust is extremely welcome.
"I’m glad that this funding, together with the hard work of local staff, means that visitors will once again be able to enjoy this wonderful garden this year.”
Pitmedden visitor services supervisor Monique Lanz added: “We are very grateful for the funding support provided by the Scottish Government to the NTS, and especially for Mr Thomson’s support to Pitmedden Garden.
"This has enabled the NTS to open more properties in its care and we are very happy to be one of them.
"We are delighted to welcome visitors to the formal garden again and cannot wait to see many of our members and supporters in the coming weeks.”
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