Helping Perth people to enjoy their countryside

Sep 26 2008 by Alison Lowson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

PERTH folk are becoming more involved in their local green spaces, thanks to the work of the Perth Greenspace Ranger, Fergus Cook.

In the latest development, he has been helping people from Craigie, Moncreiffe and Friarton to come together and have a say in the future of the recreational land around their homes, particularly St Magdalene’s Hill, Buckie Braes and the South Inch.

The Greenspace Ranger is a new post, covering the Perth City area. Perth and Kinross Council appointed Fergus to it in January 2007 with the aim of providing and promoting opportunities for the people of Perth to get out and about in their local green spaces.

This role ties in with government objectives to improve the quality of life of people living and working in urban Scotland through the planning, development and sustainable management of greenspaces.

Fergus is more down-to-earth in describing what he does: “My remit is to get people in Perth to go out and use countryside sites and the general countryside. That’s it in a nutshell.

“The money from my post came from a variety of sources, which means I look particularly at the St Magdalene’s site, some education activities and the north of Perth, which is a regeneration area.

“I was nearly called a Community Ranger because community engagement is a big part of what I do. My work involves a lot of standard ranger things – guided walks, school visits, a little work on sites including some biological recording and work with volunteers.

“It’s very varied and includes things like dressing up as David Douglas to tell children stories about the Perthshire plant hunters and Big Tree Country.”

As a member of Perth Amateur Operatic Society and Perth Cathedral Operatic Group, Fergus is no stranger to donning costumes and readily slips into the role of a nineteenth century explorer.

His recent work has included doing Forest School sessions with Goodlyburn Primary School, where the outdoor environment is used to help learning, and giving secondary school groups a practical way of learnng about soils and food chains, both curriculum subjects.

He has helped members of Fairfield Youth Club gain their John Muir Award, by taking them out to Kinnoull Hill, Loch Ossian and Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, and also works with younger groups, such as Rainbows.

Volunteers have worked with him on activities as diverse as squirrel surveys and pulling up beech saplings on Kinnoull Hill, so that they don’t shade out native trees and flowers.

Over the past 18 months he has made contact with a wide range of youth workers and community leaders in the area and they now come to him with requests for him to run various outdoor sessions.

Perhaps one of the most exciting developments for Perth is the formation of a South Perth Green Spaces Group, as they have chosen to call themselves. At a recent meeting, 37 members of the public turned up and a steering committee of about 12 came forward. This committee will meet to decide the direction they want to take and what initiatives would improve their greenspaces and increase their use by local people.

Fergus sees a great potential for this group: “The group have not had a chance to set out a plan yet, but there is already a history to this. Before I took up my post, a group of local people called The St Magdalene’s Hill Steering Committee succeeded in channelling a large amount of money into improving the area. The enhancements included path work, forestry work, tree planting and installation of furniture, as well as money for my post.

“In these days when people keep to themselves in their homes, shop at Tesco’s and have little else in their lives that would naturally draw them together, it seems to me that St Magdalene’s Hill and the other green spaces in the area have the potential to become a focus for community life.

“St Magdalene’s Hill, in particular, is a relatively large site with woodlands, open land and scrub, plus several km of paths and a well used mountain boarding track that also attracts young mountain bikers. Its potential – with proper signage and promotion – has yet, I’m sure, to be realised.

“Buckie Braes has also been recently upgraded through a Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust project that aimed to restore the area to its former glory as a popular recreational site for Perth people.

“Deep and wide-ranging involvement of the community in these open spaces could be enormously beneficial for the wildlife interest of these sites and the quality of life of people locally. The big improvements to these areas and the precedent of local involvement means we are on an upward swing, I feel, and that there is a lot of momentum to capitalise on.”

The South Perth Green Spaces Group now need a chance to set their own agenda. Ideas brought up at their initial meeting included improving signage on site, producing an information leaflet, carrying out conservation tasks, protecting areas from vandalism and encouraging more sports like orienteering, but it will be up to the community to decide their priorities.

If you would like the Perth Greenspace Ranger to work with your group, you can contact Fergus Cook on 01738 475377 or email: fcook@pkc.gov.uk