The first phase of the park is scheduled to open in spring 2021.

More than 500 members of the Winchburgh community, and a further 350 Winchburgh primary school pupils, were involved in a detailed consultation in 2018, contributing ideas and providing feedback on options for the design and layout of the park, which will become the town’s largest outdoor recreational venue.

An estimated 31,000 trees will be planted, providing a number of woodland walks as well as extensive areas of new wildlife habitat. The first 420 trees, donated by the local Winchburgh Community Growing Group through the Woodland Trust, will be planted this winter.

The original design for the park extended over 45 acres, but this expanded to 78 acres with the final plan including extensive meadows and woodland areas, including wide-open spaces for picnics and open play. Further dedicated play areas have been incorporated to suit different age groups from young children to teens, including sensory play and large natural play areas, as well as an enclosed dog park.

A café with public toilets will be located in the centre of the park, with community growing areas and orchards nearby. The design also includes a 2.5-kilometre loop of accessible paths, which will connect with the Union Canal towpath, as well as a mountain bike track and fitness trails. Viewing areas on higher ground affording long-range views across Winchburgh and to the Forth bridges beyond.

Auldcathie Park will be situated adjacent to the new schools’ campus area, which is to be located on former farmland on the south-east boundary of the park site and will feature playing fields and sports pitches. Within the masterplan area there will be two new secondary schools and at least two new primary schools.

John Hamilton, CEO, Winchburgh Developments Limited, said: “The new Auldcathie District Park is an integral part of the Winchburgh masterplan, bringing important new green infrastructure to the area and connecting the town via a network of blue and green links. The response from the Winchburgh community to this project has been fantastic, and their ideas and recommendations have been incorporated into the final design for the park, which will provide important new recreational facilities benefitting the health and wellbeing of the people living and working here.

“We will continue to maintain contact with the local community as the park naturally evolves over time. Over one and a half acres of the park will be transferred to Winchburgh Community Growers, and we are also assessing wider opportunities for a potential community management scheme on a long-term basis.”

Alastair Lewis, technical director at Sweco, which is supervising the remediation works for the District Park, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting the restoration of this derelict landfill site. This is creating a valuable community asset, and at the same time enabling the safe development of the schools’ campus area on the adjacent arable farmland. The engineering design has been undertaken by a highly experienced team of environmental and geotechnical consultants and ground gas specialists, in consultation with West Lothian Council’s Environmental Health department, to ensure the safe delivery of this public resource.”

The masterplan also includes the delivery of three new neighbourhood parks. Daisy Park will be located next to the Union Canal in the centre of the town, a second in the Glendevon area to the west, and a third to the east at Hawkhill.