Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday 6 February 2013 at 7.45 am for 8.00 am at Alexander’s Restaurant, Best Western Scores Hotel, St Andrews. The cost of the Meeting will be £10.50 per person.
As usual any guest who may be thinking of joining the Club will be welcome free of charge.
Our guest speakers will be Kyffin Roberts and Doug Stephen. Kyff is currently the chairman of St Andrews Community Council and Doug runs his own small Project Management Business. However they are coming along to tell us about the current position with Craigtoun Park.
As many of you will know Craigtoun Park is a large park (47 acres), some 2 miles from St Andrews, which was originally part of the Mount Melville estate. It was purchased by Fife Council in 1947 and has been used as a country park, open to the public, since then. Over the years the Park has hosted many shows/festivals/ events and is a much loved green and open space.
Unfortunately despite its past popularity, there has been a serious decline in visitor numbers over recent years — while 65,000 flocked through the gates in 2001, just 29,500 visited in 2008 and since then the decline has continued.
The well-known financial constraints on Fife Council and the lack of visitors apparently persuaded the council that it can no longer justify future capital investment and they have consistently cut the budget.
About 2 years ago they came very close to deciding to close the park. At that time Cameron and St Andrews Community Councils got involved and the outcome is that a small group of Friends of Craigtoun has been formed with the aim of saving the park and restoring it its rightful place as the jewel in the crown of Fifes Visitor attractions. Kyff is the chairman of this group and Doug is the vice chair and convenor of the Business Development Group.
The Friends intend to run all of the amenities in the park this summer as a feasibility study to see if there is a long term future for the park.
