In a public park such as Pittencrieff Park, there's a wide variety of maintenance duties that are delivered to a high standard throughout the year. This work keeps the park looking its best and maintains a high standard of greenspace that the public can enjoy during their leisure time.
Staff on site maintain the park and public facilities such as the Glasshouse, the landscaping and horticultural features throughout the year. They also prepare and repair the park before and after events, which include the annual Children’s Gala, the Fireworks display and the Festival of Dunfermline.
Regular duties are:
- Grass cutting between March and October
- Daily litter collection and bin emptying (during busy periods or events this is carried out more frequently)
- The Glasshouse is open and staffed 7 days a week
- Gardens are watered and maintained as required with seasonal planting and improvements
- The public toilets situated within the park are also open 7 days a week (10 am until 4.30 pm daily).
There are lots of other maintenance issues and duties that the park staff deal with on a daily basis which can range from tending to broken drains to feeding the resident peacocks.
Other teams that are involved in the maintenance of Pittencrieff Park (though they also work throughout West Fife) include:
- Tree Squad
- Spraying Squad
- Play Parks Maintenance
Managing for Biodiversity
There are several areas that are maintained to encourage biodiversity. These areas have a more natural look and are ideal for native flora and fauna to flourish. We regularly give nature a helping hand by planting wildflower seeds, bulbs, young trees and adding bird and bat boxes.
Our Peacock population
Historically, our peacocks have been allowed to roam freely throughout the town and it is our aim that the peafowl will always have food and shelter back at their sanctuary in the park.
The peafowl are very good foragers and will eat many natural foods such as insects, worms, seeds, fruit and plants and sometimes other eggs and small birds. They are provided with food and water but they do not rely on it as there's such as plenty of food supply in the Glen.
Volunteer
Volunteers play an important role in delivering projects and activities in the park that are coordinated by the Urban Park Ranger.
Previous projects that volunteers have contributed to include:
- regular wildlife recording
- ongoing clean-ups of the Tower Burn
- increased planting of native wild plants such as bulbs and wildflowers
- planting of young trees
control of invasive species such as rhododendrons and Himalayan Balsam
Volunteers come to Pittencrieff Park from local businesses, community groups and local youth groups. There's also been considerable interest and involvement from individual members of the public, as well as the already-established Friends of Pittencrieff Park. Fife Voluntary Action and the Fife Coast & Countryside also help with putting volunteers in contact with us.
Become a Friend!
The Friends of Pittencrieff Park is a charity registered in Scotland which was established in 2005 to work towards the improvement and maintenance of Pittencrieff Park for the benefit of the public.
It's run by a Board of Trustees, all of whom are unpaid volunteers, and they are always on the lookout for new members and volunteers to help them with the valuable work they do in the park.