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There is certainly an interesting invitation and challenge to planners around how we provide housing with gardens and growing spaces.

That is great. We have come to the end of our questions, but I think that Ian Welsh also wants to comment.

You are absolutely right, Ian. Good soil is a very good beginning, as I know from having started a project on sand in the not-too-distant past.

You said that you set a self-sustaining rent, but you have on-going costs from one year to the next. One issue that has been raised with us relates to Scottish Water. I would love to hear a little bit about how you pay for your water.

Your comment about the open day and allotments not being islands and needing to connect with the local and surrounding community is a nice place at which to end this evidence session. It takes us back to Maria de la Torre’s point about having sites that are accessible to schools and which people can walk to easily in order to act on their impulse to get growing.

I thank our witnesses for joining us for what has been a really useful discussion, which has added another layer to the conversation that we have been having over the past few weeks. As that was the last public item on our agenda, I close this part of the meeting.

We will move on to a new theme, which Miles Briggs will introduce.

Just out of curiosity, do you have an understanding of why the delay was put into the legislation?

Thanks, Karen. It is great to get your perspective and hear about your innovations with regard to community growing spaces, but from what everyone is saying it seems that it is in our cities that tensions are arising, because there is not so much growing space.

Maria de la Torre has sort of pre-empted my second question, which is about the support and facilitation being provided by the Scottish Government and local authorities, but perhaps I can pick up the same theme with Karen Birch and Ian Welsh. What can the Scottish Government and the local authorities do to better support allotments and, indeed, community growing spaces? Karen, do you want to come in on that?

Thank you. Rosanne, would you like to come in?

The issue of skilling up people is a theme that has been coming through clearly.

Ian Welsh, do you have any thoughts on how local authorities and the Scottish Government can be better facilitators?

No.

We might start with Rosanne Woods—I feel that I have heard a lot from her about volunteering.