The Cuningar Loop Woodland Park and Footbridge was a major winner at the Saltire Civil Engineering Awards Ceremony held in Edinburgh on 24 October, picking up the Community Award.

The judges were impressed how the regeneration of the 15-hectare site had transformed a vacant, derelict and unusable stretch of land into a popular community woodland park. complete with an extensive path network, adventure play facilities, a bike skills area, Scotland's first bouldering park, a woodland workout, large meadow and picnic areas, an outdoor classroom, a riverside boardwalk and the 99m span footbridge that links the park to the 700 homes on the site of the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes' Village.

Lynne Valentine, Project Manager at Clyde Gateway said: "These awards are, in effect, the Oscars for everyone who is involved in civil engineering work in Scotland. Cuningar Loop was alongside very expensive and strategic investments such as the M8/M73/M74 Motorway Improvements, the Selkirk Flood Prevention Scheme and the Glasgow Subway modernisation as winners on the night. This is a fantastic acknowledgment of the partnership that delivered the new park and footbridge with ourselves, Forestry Commission Scotland, Glasgow City Council and the Robertson Group all contributing in various ways."

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The award comes as figures were released showing that the park has been visited by more than 175,000 visitors since being fully opened to the public in March 2016, a figure that is above the expectations of all involved.

Hugh McNish, development officer at Forestry Commission Scotland said: "The park has been well used and we want to make sure that continues.

"We've seen people come from further afield but we want to make sure local people know it is their park. It's about realising the potential of the facilities in terms of the social and welfare benefits that can be felt by communities in Rutherglen."

Hugh is keen for organisations to take advantage of the Forestry Commission's community fund that involves grants to encourage groups to use woodland areas more.

"There are opportunities that we can provide to kick start activities or projects - any group from nursery classes, right through to primary and secondary schools and beyond, maybe groups that have health walks, volunteering or conservation work. It's really about working with the groups to meet their needs and seeing what is available."

(MH)