East Lothian Courier | News | Friends urged to pitch for new park funding

Tuesday, 6th January, 2009

Published: Thursday, 21st February, 2008 09:00

Friends urged to pitch for new park funding

DESPITE only three people turning up to a recent public meeting to discuss plans for Cuthill Park in Prestonpans, a local councillor has told the town’s community council that the park does have a future.

The park, at the west end of the town, had been under threat because of consistent anti-social behaviour there, such as under-age drinking, drug abuse and casual golfers using it as a makeshift practice range and disturbing nearby residents and businesses with their wayward golf balls.

Preston, Seton and Gosford councillor Willie Innes told last week’s meeting of the community council that there is East Lothian Council funding available to help regenerate the park and deal with its other problems.

He urged that The Friends of Cuthill Park, a sub-committee of the community council set up to ensure the park’s future, arranges another meeting as soon as possible to discuss the way forward and apply for funding.

He said: “There is £100,000 in this year’s budget for development projects and I would strongly recommend that the sub-committee get together again in the near future so that an application for funding can be made.”

A condition of any funding from East Lothian Council is that the community council would have to match the amount awarded.

Chairman of The Friends of Cuthill Park, Wattie Anderson, welcomed Mr Innes’s advice. He confirmed that there had been concerns that lack of public interest could put the park’s future in jeopardy.

After the low turnout at last month’s meeting, he had told the Courier that it “had been a waste of time”.

He complained at last week’s community council meeting that only three people had attended the sub-committee’s meeting and all had been committe members.

This was especially disappointing because there are eight people on the sub-committee.

And he complained that the lack of information about the event was partly to blame.

He said: “As well as publicising the meeting in the press, each individual committe member should have been notified.”

It was agreed that another meeting of The Friends of Cuthill Park would be arranged in the near future and that Maree Johnston, landscape and countryside manager at East Lothian Council, would be invited.

An application for funding to regenerate the park was turned down by the Heritage Lottery Fund in October last year because it was deemed that the bid “did not fall within the criteria set out in the ‘Parks for People’ programme,” primarily because it is not a predominantly designed landscape.

Social Bookmarking What are these?