Plans to renovate Hermitage Park in Argyll and Bute are continuing to progress.

Consultants have now been appointed to the scheme to take forward the development phase of the scheme. Gillespies has been selected for the project.

In January 2014, the Council, alongside Friends of Hermitage Park, secured a grant of up to £2,087,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the urban park to its former glory. The first-round approval included a grant of £169,700 to carry out the development phase of the project.

Part of this will allow Gillespies to create a design for the whole park, including the A-listed monument and memorial gardens, as well as undertake investigative works to deal with issues of flooding and erosion.

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Construction work has already started on the site, to help improve the look of the park.

Jon Simmons, Gillespies' Project Manager for the Hermitage Park project, explained: "We are delighted to have won the commission to take forward the Heritage Lottery submission for Hermitage Park.

"Surrounded by a team of talented professionals we are aware of the sensitivities associated with the park and the high regard in which it is held by locals and visitors alike.

"Our approach to landscape design is linked to our core values: design stems from an awareness and appreciation of placemaking. It is through understanding, interpreting and revealing the inherent qualities of an area that the practice can contribute to the creation of a dynamic and holistic plan for the redevelopment of the park."

Pippa Milne, Argyll and Bute Council's Executive Director for Development and Infrastructure, added: "We are thrilled to have such a renowned consulting firm on board for the development phase of this exciting £2million investment project.

"This background work is vitally important to ensuring the second stage application is successful and we can move forward with the physical works to bring the park back to its former glory."

Following this development phase, a stage two application will then be submitted for the proposals in August 2015.

(JP/IT)