Preparation ...

Work has already begun in the park! In case you are wondering what is going on, here's a brief outline: 

The council are putting in a path along the bottom of the park to allow vehicle access to the community garden for Rollo, the contractor who will be working there, in order to avoid damage to the grass. Hardcore for the path will be delivered to the car parking spaces on Bankfoot, & moved into the park by diggers.  

Rollo will be clearing the area by the container in preparation for putting a patio in front of it and moving the soil mound into the garden area to level it. They will also be clearing the area just inside & to the left of the park gates. 

It's exciting to have work starting so soon - well done to all the highly organised people who have made it happen! 

Update

Happy New Year, everyone!

All has seemed quiet over the autumn & winter, but there has been a lot going on behind the scenes, including successful funding applications & helpful meetings with the council.

Funding has been successfully applied for from East Lothian Council's Civic Pride Fund; The Coalfields Regeneration Trust and the Preston Seton Gosford (PSG) Area Partnership. These funds will make a huge difference to the park & will be used for various projects, such as the following:

• Opening the bricked up passageway in the corner of the community garden & putting in a gate, allowing easy access from the main road, by the small car park.
• Putting slabs down on the area in front of the container, to allow for a useful community space (with a beautiful outdoor table donated from the old power station). 
• Resurfacing the community garden paths with a much more resilient & low-maintenance surface.
• Soft planting around the garden & park. 
• More seating around the park.
• Signage at the nearby road junctions & on the road outside the park gates. 
• Dog waste bins.
• Re-opening the path from the park to Prestongrange Museum (this may take a while to finalise, but the funds are in place. The council is negotiating with the golf course.)
• Possibly including paths through the length of the park allowing disabled access (depending on funds remaining & whether the Prestongrange path is undertaken this year or left until next year.)

So, all in all, it's looking like there is a great year ahead for the park! 

We hope to have a meeting in the next month or so to plan some events for the park, & we'd love for more people to be involved, so please get in touch if you'd like to help plan/organise/advertise/run anything.

Also, for those of you who have been responsible for a raised bed over the past year, please let me know whether you'd like to continue for the next year, or not.  

We may have a community bed that anyone can help with & that the community can harvest together at the end of the growing season. Let us know if you'd be interested in this.

Hope to see some of you soon.

Best wishes,

Carole

Secretary, Friends of Cuthill Park