Callendar Park Management Plan Consultation Phase 2

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1 Callendar Park Management Plan Consultation Phase 2 In February 2015 Falkirk Community Trust asked the public about how they used Callendar Park, as the first stage in developing a plan for how the park will be managed in the future. The information from all the participants has helped shape a series of projects within the plan which help deliver what visitors want, protect the natural and man-made heritage of the site, and cope with the limited resources available. The projects will only take place if we can find the resources to make them happen. We will be taking advantage of opportunities to get funding from other organisations such as the lottery to make positive changes to the park but these grant aiding organisations only give money out for specific things which interest them, and rarely fund 100% of the cost of a whole project. It is really important that we are able to show funders that the public who will be using the park are behind the plan, and where possible will get involved in making it happen. The more visitors who respond to this survey and give us their opinions the more likely we are to make sure the park delivers what you would like it to and also to get the support we need to improve the park, so we are very grateful for the time you are spending filling in the questionnaire. If you have any friends or family who use the park please encourage them to fill one in too. Please look over the following proposed projects and complete the accompanying questionnaire. Thank you for your time and effort in helping us manage the Park better.

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3 1. Grassland Management Cutting all grass to the same height isn t good for wildlife. Mowing every area at the same frequency makes work difficult to schedule and uses lots of fuel. Long grass helps trees survive dry summers and protects historic features. Grass areas around the house, and along the edges of the formal paths will remain cut short. Other areas such as the grass underneath the trees will be developed as wild flower areas and cut at least once a year. Paths will be mown through the long grass to allow people to enjoy walking across the whole of the Park (See following map).

4 1. Grassland Management: long grass areas Dark green: long grass; Light green: intermediate grass; Yellow: short grass

5 2. Shrubs and Bedding Maintaining current shrub and bedding areas is labour intensive and the shrub beds are nearing the end of their life. Bedding is expensive and requires regular planting and weeding. With limited staff time, intensive tasks need to be reduced. Bedding will be changed to longer lasting perennials and bushes. Shrub beds will be replaced with beautiful trees and bulbs planted underneath. The trees will be part of a trail celebrating George Forrest, the famous Falkirk plant hunter. The new bulbs and perennials will be better for bees and other wildlife. The tree trail will maintain colour and interest on a key route into Falkirk town centre creating a great impression for visitors and businesses.

6 3. Signage and Interpretation You told us that there isn t enough information about the Park and how to use it. We will remove old out of date signs and put in new maps, finger posts directing you around the Park, and information about the features when you get there. We will tie these new signs into existing signs by the Forestry Commission and link with important routes like the John Muir Way and the Antonine Wall.

7 4. Car Parks The Park has three car parks (see map). Not all of them are easy to find or use. We will direct visitors to the larger car park (see left of map) and add a welcoming gateway and signage. Disabled visitors and deliveries will still be able to drive to the front of the house. We will encourage increased use of the Business Park and Kemper Avenue car parks. The middle car park is in poor condition due to tree roots and the steep slope. We propose eventually closing it and redeveloping it as an area for play (see option 5). If we need more space for visitors with cars we will expand the large car park

8 5. Play and Activities The equipment in the play park is in poor condition and now has a very short life expectancy. There is no specific budget to replace it. We will ask funders like the lottery if they would help pay for new equipment. We will keep an area for younger children to play in at Castle Callendar and then extend active adventurous play out into the wider park on a signposted trail. This could include exercise options for adults. Summer play activities (pedalos, go-karts) are also in poor condition. We will look at whether they can be replaced and if not search for someone else to provide kids activities in the holidays.

9 6. Park Furniture Litter makes the Park messy and unappealing. Picking it up is a waste of staff time. Better bins with a larger capacity combined with lids to keep squirrels / wind out, have been trialled and do reduce the amount of items escaping and littering the Park. We will buy more of these bins for the Park. We will work with Community Payback and Youth Offenders schemes to help tackle litter hot spots. A campaign to reduce littering, and increase the picking up of dog poo could also save staff time and will be trialled. More benches will be put around the site to let people rest as they walk around the site.

10 7. Public Toilets We will remove the costly automated toilet and use the money saved to keep the main public toilets open longer and change the cleaning contract.

11 8. Rhododendron Management Unfortunately there is a particular type of plant called Rhododendron ponticum which spreads through woodlands and stops other plants growing. It is pretty but is also bad for wildlife and we plan on working with neighbouring landowners to get rid of it. We will work with the Forestry Commission to eradicate invasive rhododendron in the Park as part of their ongoing efforts to control it in the neighbouring Woods, and replant the gaps with native species like Hazel, Dogwood and Guelder Rose.

12 9. The Arboretum, Rhododendrons and George Forrest The Park contains many beautiful trees and shrubs, some of which are species which George Forrest, a local plant hunter, collected in China in the 1920 s. We will make a list of all the other plants and trees in the Arboretum and make sure rare plants aren t damaged. Once the rhododendron is gone we will plant new trees and shrubs and even bulbs which are more suited to the site. We will link these to George Forrest where we can and make up a guide for the site so you can walk around and find out more about the plant collection. The guide will be downloadable from the web for free.

13 10. Events Events held in the Park both by the Trust and other organisations are popular and encourage more people to visit the Park. However they can result in damage to the lawns and other areas which is expensive to repair. We will make sure events are well planned and spread out throughout the year to avoid too much damage to the Park. We will charge people who make money from using the Park and use this to help keep the site looking it s best. We will be happy to talk to people who want to run new events which our visitors would enjoy and which suit the site.

14 11. Empty and Derelict Buildings There are empty buildings within Callendar Park which create an impression that the site is run down. Fewer people using the site and the buildings means less eyes and ears to report potential problems. Some of the empty buildings might be in good enough condition to let out to appropriate businesses like dog groomers and nurseries. We will investigate interest in this as a priority. We will renovate the outbuildings currently occupied by the Parks maintenance team as they are not watertight at the moment. Where derelict buildings are too expensive to restore we will clad the boarded up windows with decorative panels showing what the interior would have looked like historically when they were in use.

15 12. Path Resurfacing Not all the paths in the Park are in a good state, and this was commented on in the public survey. It will be expensive to improve them but we plan on bidding for grant aid to do this. Where appropriate, we propose to: re-tarmac existing paths; upgrade some loose aggregate paths to tarmac; improve drainage; and install more benches and perches along all the paths.

16 13. Encouraging Increased Use Many of you commented in the public survey that more use could be made of the Park. We plan to develop: volunteering opportunities within the Park; lunchtime walking clubs; online seasonal guides to increase your enjoyment of the Park; smartphone apps to provide benefits for our visitors interested in the Antonine Wall etc.; seasonal events