As St Andrews Community Council agrees to establish a trust that aims to restore Craigtoun Park as the jewel in the crown of Fife’s visitor attractions, Michael Alexander examines the viability of the park’s survival.
But, ironically, ever since Fife Council stopped charging for entry last summer partly to avoid paying seasonal staff more people seem to be taking an interest. During my recent trip with my young children, a recently built adventure playground was packed with kids having the time of their lives. The lawns, the trees and the flowers were also in pristine condition, with some dazzling displays making a walk around the park a pleasure.
Take all these factors together and it’s easy to see why St Andrews Community Council doesn’t want the park to be lost and why it has agreed that it should now look at the establishment of a trust to safeguard the future of the park.
But can the trust succeed where Fife Council has found it hard going? The main obstacle must be cost. Repairs have been estimated at £4 million, with annual running costs estimated at £300,000.
There are also other threats. Last year a throw-away suggestion that Craigtoun Park should be developed as the site of a new single-site Madras College was quickly dismissed out of hand, and yet some have told The Courier over the past week that they feel, behind the scenes, Fife Council would gladly wash its hands of the park.
Some believe it would love to see housing built there although this would arguably be contrary to Fife Council’s own ‘Green Space’ policies. If more houses are built in St Andrews as part of the proposed Western Expansion, it could be argued Craigtoun would again be in greater demand from St Andrews residents. Likewise, with less money going around, and more ‘staycations’, people might be more willing to visit local holiday attractions like Craigtoun if it is maintained and marketed properly.
Yet with a battle also being fought to save the St Andrews Botanic Gardens from closure, there are some in the town who feel that, in these times of austerity, the town isn’t big enough for both and the most viable option for saving will not be Craigtoun. One supporter of the Botanic Gardens told The Courier: ”I don’t want to rain on their parade but, in my opinion, lovely as it would be to save it, Craigtoun and the Botanics are not both viable.”
If passion alone were enough to save Craigtoun, however, then its future would already be secure. Last week’s meeting in the St Andrews Burgh Chambers saw a range of ideas put forward from innovative green energy measures to cut running costs to permanent flower displays, allotments and horticultural events.
Fife Council, meanwhile, has confirmed it is hoping to get the miniature train operator back this summer after capturing the imagination of visitors again last year, while efforts are also being made to bring in an independent boat operator. Tenders are also going out for a cafe operator. Fife Council has confirmed it has funding in place for Craigtoun for at least the next year. It is also keen to work with the trust to look at the future of the park. Beyond that, however, its future remains somewhat uncertain, which is why the trust wants to move quickly and why it needs to keep the momentum going.
The passion and potential is certainly there for Craigtoun to be restored as the jewel in the crown of Fife’s visitor attractions. It would surely be tragic if, like the St Andrews rail link, people only realised what an asset Craigtoun was to the area once it was gone.Anyone wishing to support the establishment of the Craigtoun trust should contact St Andrews Community Council chairman Kyffin Roberts via email kyffinroberts@hotmail.com. The Courier would like you to share your memories and photographs of Craigtoun Park. Email news@thecourier.co.uk or write to us at The Courier, 14 Hunter Street, Kirkcaldy, Fife, KY1 1ED.Mention Craigtoun Park to anyone of a certain age in Courier Country and they might well get misty-eyed with nostalgic, childhood memories of the Dutch Village, the rowing boats and the miniature train.
For many, the emotional attachment to Craigtoun is, of course, literally a lifelong one with many including this writer born at the long since closed Craigtoun Maternity Hospital.
In the 1980s it was not unknown for adventurous St Andrews primary school children to set off on summer holiday adventures by walking the three-mile, unofficial cross-country route from St Andrews to Craigtoun via the derelict railway line at Spinkie Den, before crossing fields to reach the park via Mount Melville.
Aside from the boats and train, the rewards of a precious entry sticker included hours of fun playing crazy golf over obstacles including a replica Tay Road Bridge and bouncing away every last piece of energy on the trampolines. Happy days oh, and the summers always seemed to be hot”
In 1988, Craigtoun even staged its own music festival Fife Aid which was hosted by David Bellamy and featured, among others, Van Morrison. The memories of hairy biker gangs motoring through the town on their way to the festival live on to this day.
But whilst it was once seen as one of Fife’s top tourist attractions, Craigtoun is now a shadow of its former self after years of neglect.
During a recent visit it was sad to see the state of the Dutch Village with huge chunks of the once pristine white paintwork missing. It was heartbreaking to see the abandoned boating pond thick with green algae and littered with bottles. The greenhouses that once boasted cacti and palm trees were derelict and partially smashed, while the old summer house built into a boundary wall was fenced off due to subsidence. The tired old caf was open but the paint was peeling and I’m sure the sun-bleached toys on display in the window were the same ones there during the heydays.
Without wishing to sound too melodramatic, it reminded me of a Cold War-era military base where the troops had pulled out overnight, leaving the tanks and redundant military hardware to rust. And yet, amid the decay, there were signs of life and no end of potential.
The changing face of tourism, children more interested in playing computer games than embracing the outdoors, and a lack of social housing in St Andrews leading to fewer families living in the St Andrews area have all been cited as reasons why visitor numbers and, ultimately, Fife Council park revenue declined at Craigtoun in recent years. The lack of visitors ultimately persuaded the council that it could no longer justify investment.
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