Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Outcry over plan to prune nursery
Council says it is cheaper to buy in plants for displays
North Lanarkshire Council’s decision to close the nursery complex at Drumpellier Country Park has been slammed as “absolutely shocking”.
The facility at the Coatbridge site, which is home to various tropical and temperate plant species, two ornamental gardens, a glasshouse and a water feature housing red-eared terrapins, will shut in the autumn due to cost-cutting measures.
Five full-time and two seasonal staff members now face an uncertain future, with redeployment within the council one of the potential options.
An Advertiser reader from Coatbridge, who wished to remain anonymous, contacted us to say: “This is an absolutely shocking decision by the council.
“The nursery complex is a cracking facility and the team of staff there do wonderful jobs running and maintaining it.
“They have a real passion for what they do and you have to wonder what the future holds for them.
“Recently there have been a few examples of the council revealing plans to cut services and facilities due to cost- cutting.
“Some, like community centres that were under threat, have won a reprieve due to the public coming together to protest and I’d like to think the same thing can maybe happen with the nursery complex.
“It would be a crying shame if it was to close its doors forever.”
The complex’s ornamental gardens have hosted many visitors for wedding photographs and the facility also holds talks on horticulture.
The council has announced it intends to “externalise the supply and installation of floral features and plants” when the facility closes its doors.
But Airdrie South councillor Michael Coyle told the Advertiser: “If the plans to shut down the nursery complex go ahead I think it could cost the council a lot of money.
“A thermal heating system was installed there a few years ago and to get rid of that and the greenhouses won’t be cheap.
“I also don’t think they will be able to build anything else there as I believe the land is greenbelt.
“This may be a cost-cutting move but you have to think of the human cost involved.
“I think closing the site will be a disastrous move and this will have a big impact on the staff and the many people who use the complex.”
A council spokesperson said: “At the meeting of the council in February it was agreed, as part of the saving proposals, to externalise the supply and installation of floral features and plants, which will result in the closure of the nursery complex in Drumpellier Country Park.
“This decision affects five full-time and two seasonal members of staff.
“The council operates a no compulsory redundancy policy and meetings have been held with staff to discuss the options available to them: redeployment within the council or voluntary redundancy.
“It is proposed that the nursery complex will close in the autumn of this year.”
It would be a crying shame if it was to close its doors forever