Big plans for Morton Park

Morton Park is one of the largest parks in East Ayrshire, set in a lovely spot beside the River Irvine. Darvel residents believe it could be much more – a major attraction for locals and visitors alike.
Improving the park was named the first priority under the Environment and Heritage theme of the Darvel Community Action Plan 2014–2019. The plan recorded a real desire in the community to see the park developed, and residents came forward with a long list of ideas.
Suggestions included high-quality adventure play areas, improved all-ability paths so that everyone could enjoy the park, and better drainage. Residents also asked for more sports facilities, with an outdoor gym, tennis courts and a putting green among the ideas. Improved entrances and an improved rose garden rounded off the wish list.
The survey showed why the park matters. Outdoor recreation and the environment were the most valued features of the town, named by 44% of respondents, and many comments praised Darvel's good parks and "the Big Park" in particular. Yet some residents also felt the park could be tidied up a good deal better.
Rather than leaving the ambition as a wish list, the plan set out a practical route:
• explore how other communities have developed their historic parks – for example through the Heritage Lottery Fund's Parks for People programme, by setting up a Friends group, and by working closely with the local authority
• raise funds for, and commission, a master plan for the park's regeneration
• make funding applications for the park's development in line with that master plan
The Community Council, the Darvel Improvement Group, East Ayrshire Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund were named as the organisations to take the work forward.
The plan also linked the park with the neighbouring Recreation Park, which it said needed upgrading to make the most of a great resource. Proposals there included a better power supply for the pavilion, resurfacing the car park, completing the fencing and adding lighting to the skate park.
The park sits at the heart of the plan's wider vision of Darvel as a place with good open spaces and easy access to the countryside – a place with good parks and recreational facilities, and a good base for walking, cycling and other outdoor activities.
For a town whose residents named the outdoors as the thing they love most, investing in its biggest green space was always going to be a priority. The question the plan posed was how ambitious Darvel could afford to be.