Work begins on £1.5 million front green revamp project

After years of planning, delays and high hopes – not to mention a pandemic – work will begin next week on improving Lochgilphead’s front green.

Earlier this year, Argyll and Bute Council awarded the retendered contract, worth £1.5 million, to Northern Irish firm Hawthorn Heights Limited.

Work is to start on Monday May 31. The project will include a new playpark and public square, with more seating and better cycling and walking areas.

Work will also improve drainage and raise the ground surface level.

It will involve substantial engineering work, including the removal of soil from a large part of the site and installing a new seating wall.

Councillor Alastair Redman, the council’s policy lead for Business Regeneration and Commercial Development, said: ‘The front green is a fantastic green space and it has been a long-term community aspiration to see it used more for community events and recreation.

‘We have listened to public feedback and are pleased work can now start to create new facilities for generations of people to enjoy. We are committed to improving our town centres across Argyll and Bute with the aim of making places more attractive to live, work and visit.

‘We are already seeing the benefits of town centre regeneration including the recent work to improve access in Lochgilphead.’

Due to the scale and nature of the works, the front green will be closed until January 2022 for safety reasons. The bus shelter on Lochnell Street will remain unaffected and the public toilets will remain open.

The front green project is funded by Argyll and Bute Council’s Tarbert and Lochgilphead Regeneration Fund, the Scottish Government’s Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes and Town Centre Funds, HITRANS, Lochgilphead Phoenix Project and the Cooperative community fund.

It follows more than £500,000 of investment in Colchester Square and lower Argyll Street which widened footpaths, improved pavement surfaces for wheelchair users and prams and introduced new road crossings.

Argyll and Bute Council will issue regular progress updates and a community engagement event with Hawthorn Heights is planned for June.

More project information can be found on the council website.

‘It has been a longterm community aspiration to see it used more for community events ’