New meadow proposal at Cumbernauld Community Park

“People and wildlife at the heart of Cumbernauld’s future” is our vision at Cumbernauld Living Landscape, so it’s important that wherever possible improvements we make to the town’s habitats also provide opportunities for locals to connect with nature.

This year we have some exciting plans for Cumbernauld Community Park. Lat year, in partnership with Friends of Cumbernauld Community Park, we held two information sessions to gather thoughts and opinions on a proposed wildflower meadow and a meadow of unharvested oats.

The wildflower meadow will not only bring colour to the park in summer, it will also become the latest addition to Cumbernauld’s “Nectar Network”, creating a new food supply for pollinating insects such as bees, butterflies and moths. Unharvested oats hark back to the area’s agricultural past, and while they may not be feeding us humans, they’ll provide a feast for farmland birds such as skylarks, fieldfares and redwings.

The two meadows have the potential to create some fantastic wildlife-watching experiences. In previous consultations, over 40% of respondents wanted more things to do in the park, and more for children to do specifically. The most popular suggestions for events were educational, such as wildlife identification workshops and archaeology-themed walks.

The meadows will create all sorts of opportunities for people to get involved, from mini-beast workshops with primary school pupils to practical conservation volunteering events. We also plan to develop creative signage that will share stories about the agricultural, social and natural history of the park.