Rouken Glen a step closer to being named UK's 'Best Park'

More than 200 parks were nominated in this year’s Fields in Trust competition, with over 10,000 votes cast.

It means the East Renfrewshire park is now officially the best park in Scotland after judges whittled the 214 nominees down to a final four featuring contenders from each of the home nations.

The Giffnock green space is up against Castle Gardens in Antrim, Northern Ireland; Pontypool Park in Torfaen, Wales; and Preston Park Rockery in Brighton, England.

East Renfrewshire Council’s Environment convener Councillor Vincent Waters said: “A big thank you must go to all our residents and visitors who have got behind the park and voted over the last few weeks.

“It has been an extremely exciting year for the park with the completion of £3 million investment works and on behalf of all of our hard working Parks Department, we are all very proud of getting this far.

“This would definitely be the icing on the cake after a fantastic year and we are keeping our fingers crossed for the top award at the end of this month.”

Visitor numbers at Rouken Glen reached close to 1,000,000 last year.

The park was described as “a place for people and nature” as part of its nomination which comes shortly after it received a sixth Green Flag Award for being well-maintained and well-managed.

The winner of the UK’s Best Park 2016 competition will be announced at an event at Lords Cricket Ground in London on Wednesday, November 30.

This latest piece of good news follows on from a summer of renovation works at the 143-acre park.

Included in the transformations were: a refurbished pavilion visitor centre, a £270,000 inclusive children’s playground featuring a multisensory section and a redeveloped walled garden featuring new planting schemes.

The park’s Glen Path was also restored to enable visitors to retrace the footsteps of the Victorians who worked at the Newfield printworks and witness remnants of the park’s industrial and social heritage.