Friends group aiming to buy woods for 75k
Hands off our woodland – that’s the voice of a community vying to save their green- space for future generations.
Leafy green Hannahston Woods, near Drongan, is up for purchase by current owners Hargreaves Land.
The community could face losing the 68.9 acre woodland, a popular leisure and learning spot, to another private seller, with no say in how it is developed.
Now, Friends of Hannahston Woods, a subgroup formed under Drongan, Rankinston and Stair Regeneration Group ( DRS), plan to purchase the woods “to leave a legacy”.
At a meeting for the subgroup last week, East Ayrshire Vibrant Communities Community Worker Margo Crolley said: “It was a shock to hear it was up for sale.
“Now the community is coming together to put a bid in to keep the land.”
The land is currently on the market for £ 75,000.
The DRS Regeneration Group have worked closely with East Ayrshire Woodlands to complete the Hannahston Community Woodland project by revamping pathways, improving drainage and planting new trees.
Margo added: “It’s not just for hanging baskets — it’s to leave a legacy.”
The woodland consists of mainly mixed broadleaves including willow, larch and silver birch.
Gravel paths run throughout the area, with open spaces around the ponds to observe a wide variety of wildlife including deer, heron and pheasants.
Foxes, stoats, butterflies and insects, and many birds including sparrowhawk, oystercatcher and soaring buzzards can also be observed.
Once an opencast coal site, the green- space is a popular outdoor learning hub for local primary and secondary youngsters.
Nan McTurk, 81, of Stair Community Association and DRS, said: “It’s such a lovely community asset.
“There’s so much work been put into it.
“It’s user friendly– it’s been made up so the paths are accessible for all and people can go in wheelchairs and pushchairs.
Always thinking of the children, retired Drongan Primary teacher Nan added: “Schools use it for outdoor learning – if it goes into private hands we’ll lose that.
“It’s too important for us to lose it.
“We want to keep it for future generations.”
A representative of Hargreaves Land said: “Once we became aware of the local community’s interest in the site at Hannahston Woods, we agreed to suspend our marketing campaign including the removal of the ‘ For Sale’ signs. Subsequently, we have held several positive meetings with various community representatives to discuss their aspirations for the site and those discussions are currently ongoing.”