Members of Old Kilpatrick Community Council held a meeting on Wednesday where they discussed being part of the group which has a working title of Friends of the Glen.

Potential areas of interest have already been identified such as Glen Lusset, Napier Hall, Antonine Wall site, the Saltings, St Patrick’s Well and the empty building at Kilpatrick Train Station.

Explaining the inspiration behind the new group, Isobel Plunkett, of Old Kilpatrick Community Council, said: “We are chairing the meeting and hopefully from that we will identify people that will become part of the group and become friends of the glen. But it is about more than the glen, it’s about the whole community.

“There are a number of groups that have an interest in Old Kilpatrick. There are areas of specialist interest, there is the cycle path, the canal, the glen, waterways and there are other groups such as SUSTRANS, the environmental agency, we have some groups of volunteers, local residents that meet once a month that do litter picks in the glen.” He added: “This is a question of interested people getting together and hopefully coming up with ideas. For example I think the train station could be a museum with a tea room that provides a base and access to the Antonine Wall.” Describing Glen Lusset as a ‘great community resource’, Isobel added: “There was a paddling pool that’s still under the moss, there’s fantastic spaces under the bridges, kids have created their own BMX track up there. It’s fabulous and we need to get a hold of these kids and help them. There’s also space to have an outdoor concert area and picnic areas.

“One idea is to gain access to green houses. We have established a relationship with the rangers at Dalmuir Park and we could develop an area to grow plants and flowers which could be put in hanging baskets and plant pots around the village.” Explaining there was huge potential to develop assets in and around the village, Isobel said Old Kilpatrick residents could look to their neighbours for inspiration. In particular Bowling, which has transformed its waterfront, and Renton which turned its train station into a visitor centre on Robert the Bruce.