It’s what we have been looking for in the park – it will make the place look like a park. For the last 3 of 4 weeks a vast manual raking of the areas to be grassed has been underway and should be completed this week. Today, one of the Graham crew grassed on his employer, saying that no seed has yet been sown but that should start in the next few days. It then takes about 10 days for the first green shimmer to appear.
At that point the plants will be tender and the whole area would be at risk if people walked on it. So when will the park open for public use? No hard news on this yet but we have been told that it is to be handed over to the Parks Department soon and they will decide when it is safe to open. Another source said that the techy bit of the skate facility is booked but the contractor will not be available until early autumn. The two stories match – leading to a full opening in, perhaps, October. So summer picnics are off – although the excellent Figgate Burn Park is there for that.
Meanwhile, suspicious excavations appeared not far from the rather odd SUDS pond, making some think that Plan C, D or E was to be implemented – given that the excavation was on behalf of Scottish Water. But no, the digging is to fix a substantial sewerage problem for some houses in Hamilton Terrace. Various ‘oscopies were done identifying a problem half way along the street and after strenuous efforts by some residents, Scottish Water accepted the problem was theirs and fixed it, we hope.
So what happens next? We don’t know – will the park site continue to have messy barriers right through to October? Probably, as the park railings (which are not to be refurbished) will not deter anyone from entering. Guerrilla gardening anyone?
