Lochgilphead’s new front green to be opened in May

Lochgilphead’s transformed front green will be complete and open by the end of May – one year after diggers arrived on site.

The announcement by Argyll and Bute Council comes as contractors Hawthorn Heights put the final touches in place, including tree planting and soft landscaping around the front green and surfacing on the new play park.

Work on the £1.5 million project, designed with the help of Glasgow-based landscape architects erz, started on May 31, 2021 after years of planning, consultation and a number of delays.

The target for completion had been April 2022, but UK-wide delays in the delivery of construction materials forced the handover to be held back to May.

Argyll and Bute Council is leading the project, which includes a new public square, paved with local Achnaba stone, which will be available to hold events.

One of the first of those is likely to be the community-organised Lochgilphead Celtic and Pictish Festival.

Children will soon be able to try out the new play park.

There is a range of new equipment to play on, including a pyramid tower with slide, a playhouse, climbing nets and rope lines, swings and climbing logs.

The works also include drainage and landscaping to help ease the impact of flooding, as well as additional seating and new walking and cycling facilities.

The pavement next to the new public square and war memorial has also been paved with Achnaba stone, matching the surface on

Colchester Square across the road.

Lochgilphead Community Council convener Andy Buntin said he was delighted to see progress after a decade of hard work and setbacks, starting with hopes of a new play park back in 2012.

Mr Buntin said: ‘We are more than happy with the design of the project and were involved in many meetings with the designers and council throughout the process.

‘Due to Brexit and Covid, some things had to be changed but the main aspects of the design are there and almost finished.

‘This project, in conjunction with the excellent work in Colchester Square and Argyll Street, will give Lochgilphead the boost it needed to encourage more businesses to start up and give residents a reason to shop locally.

‘The work also carried out on shop fronts and ongoing CARS project can only be a benefit to the whole of Mid Argyll.’

He added: ‘Credit to the contractor for the professional and mannerly way it has carried out this project.’

‘This project ... will give Lochgilphead the boost it needed to encourage more businesses to start up and give residents a reason to shop locally’.