Councillor Macpherson contacted the Tele today after being given the assurance by Mr Collins.

He said, “Given the level of concern about the future of Victoria Park, I am pleased the Director of Education has acknowledged the need to properly consult with park users — including Friends of Balgay — and I hope this can take place as soon as possible.”

Cllr Macpherson had raised the issue of public consultation, saying it had to be “urgently addressed.”

In an email to Cllr MacPherson, Mr Collins pointed out that new regulations now give easier opportunity for anyone who wishes to make comment on a planning issue and emphasised no major takeover of any of the park space is envisaged.

He added there are “no proposals to erect fences and the statement I have read in the Press about a possible all-weather facility is quite simply wrong — no such facility is proposed.

“With regard to consultation, parents are represented on the project board and will have an opportunity to express their views at its first meeting in January.

“I would also have no objection to an organisation such as Friends of Balgay Park being represented on the Local Implementation Group”

The Scottish Government has given the go ahead for the replacement of Park Place PS and nursery and St Joseph’s PS with two new schools sharing a campus on the site of the former Harris Academy annexe in Blackness Road.

There has been local concern expressed about using Victoria Park for school playing fields and Cllr Macpherson asked city council chief executive David Dorward what steps are to be taken to consult parents and carers about the use of the park, given that it did not explicitly form part of the original consultation when the schools plan was first unveiled.

Mr Dorward told him that, in light of the fact the project has been given government approval, he has asked assistant chief executive Chris Ward to call the first meeting of the project board in early to mid-January.