PITTENCRIEFF PARK is set for the biggest transformation in generations but it'll only happen if the people of Dunfermline give it their backing.

It's a dearly-loved place and there are exciting proposals on how to make the Glen even better, with more entertainment, family-friendly activities, food and drink offers, cultural attractions and health and wellbeing benefits.

Andrew Carnegie gifted the park to the people of the town in 1903 and the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust now want to start a conversation to find out what you love about the park and your ideas to improve it.

Home to its iconic peacocks, which have the freedom of Dunfermline, the park is 76 acres in size and was voted the finest in Scotland in 2019.

With more than 750,000 visitors every year, it's one of the most popular attractions in the country but the grandeur has faded a little as the money to maintain and fund improvements is no longer there.

Back in the 1970s, the park was owned and managed by the trust but the ongoing costs, for example they still had around 30 gardeners at that stage, were prohibitive.

An agreement was reached with the then Dunfermline District Council, and now Fife Council, to maintain and manage it while the trust continued to own it.

This resulted in a successful arrangement but there is a realisation that local government is now in a very different place with a decade-long squeeze on the public purse and less funds available for maintenance, far less improvements.

A multi-million pound investment is required and the trust is looking to apply to various funding streams.

Discussions between the council and the trust about current problems and potential solutions have led to where we are now, with ambitious proposals to make the most of the beloved Glen, which is an asset to our town centre.

To get to this stage the trust and the council have asked questions:

Why should everything shut down at 5pm?

Why can't we light up the Glen and copy the 'enchanted forest' idea?

Why can't we have open-air concerts and show films on the lawn?

And have more dining and drinking areas in the pavilion and weddings in Pittencrieff House?

Can we host more exhibitions, can we make more of the links with Pittsburgh?

There's scope to build on the success of the Parkrun with more sporting events, music concerts and food and drink festivals would prove a real draw while walking tours would tell visitors about the park and Dunfermline's story.

An electric train circling the Glen – and puffing up those steep hills – would be loved by kids, add in horse rides, a fairytale area, zip wires, grass-sledging, putting greens and crazy golf and you would keep visitors entertained all day, with the option of using picnic and barbecue tables or nipping to the cafe or pavilion for sustenance.

For a park the size of Pittencrieff, the food and drink offering has been limited and more outlets selling coffee, ice cream, snacks and drinks seems straightforward.

The pavilion should work much harder, recreating the art deco interior would be a classy touch and new dining areas in the Peacock Room and Glen Suite, use of the terraces for al fresco eating and drinking and the introduction of a cocktail bar/gin bar, all sound good.

Not all of the ideas will come to pass, a wind turbine may be a hard sell for example, but better use of the greenhouses, more beehives, community growing areas and greater biodiversity would surely get the thumbs-up.

And a resolution at Pittencrieff House would be a major plus.

A wedding at the Abbey, a piper-led parade into the Glen and reception at the house would be an impressive affair but the three floors could be multi-purpose, with everything from private functions, concerts and corporate away days to arts and craft markets, exhibitions and summer schools.

There's also room for improvement at the glasshouses and scope to grow produce, open up the classroom space for schools, clubs and groups, learn traditional skills and offer more opportunities to apprentices, volunteers and crafters.

But it's YOUR park, it belongs to the people of Dunfermline, so it's time to start a conversation about what YOU want to see in it.

As part of those plans, the ground floor of Pittencrieff House will be re-opened and the idea is for people to stop by between July 23 and August 1, view the proposals and have their say.

For those who can't make it, there will be other ways and means of making your views known.