Jupiter descending?: Future of Grangemouth's natural oasis hangs in the balance

The centre, located near Wood Street, is owned by CalaChem but had been run by the trust for three decades.

Once a derelict railway siding, the abandoned sparse grassland, scrub and marshland is now home to a variety of habitats that support a wide variety of wildlife, from dragonflies and frogs to butterflies and bullfinches.

Now the nature charity says it would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds of investment would be needed to keep the site open in its current form and have launched

a public consultation to assess whether there is interest from groups, organisations or businesses in finding an alternative way for the site to remain open to the community from April 2024.

The first consultation event takes the form of an open viewing at the site from 12.30pm to 4pm on Thursday, October 19.

That evening, from 7pm to 8pm, a public meeting will be held in the main hall of Grangemouth Community Education Unit, in Abbots Road, to give people a chance to ask questions and perhaps express an interest in taking over the centre.

This will be followed by an online meeting open to all from 4.30pm to 5.30pm on Tuesday, October 24.

The consultation is scheduled to closed on Friday, October 27.

See the full consultation schedule here and register for the online meeting by visiting the Scottish Wildlife Trust website for more information.