£300,000 grant is last piece in £3m jigsaw for Hermitage Park

A sustainable transport grant means the last piece of funding is now in place for the £3m project to restore and redevelop Hermitage Park in Helensburgh.

The £300,000 boost from the Sustrans Community Links Programme will fund cycling and walking paths in the Victorian park.

Aileen Morton, Argyll and Bute Council’s policy lead for sustainable economic growth, said: “This is yet another piece of good news for this ambitious project.

“We’ve spent a lot of time doing research, making sure we develop the park in the right way, providing the best fit for all users.

“As anyone who has been to the park will tell you, the path network in its current condition is not ideal. The Sustrans money will address that, providing fabulous new facilities for community use.”

The main path network will be completely replaced, although the layout will remain much the same, with the same key entry/exit points at the north, south, east and west of the park.

The specific work to the path network will include:

• A new lighting system, aiming to allow people to safely enjoy the park throughout winter and in the evening.
• Three-metre wide tarmacadam and red chip paths, with concrete edging to increase life expectancy
• Covered bike stands at access points and the new pavilion café

Chris Packard, chair of the Friends of Hermitage Park, said: “This is wonderful news and now enables us to include all the improvements we had hoped to achieve at the outset and will enable a very broad range of activities in the restored park.”

And Andy Keba, Sustrans Scotland community links co-ordinator, added: “This restoration project is a fantastic example of placemaking which facilities greater use of public space and higher levels of active travel both within the Park and as part of longer journeys around the town.

“The new path infrastructure will not only encourage people to cycle, walk and use other active travel modes as their preferred choice of travel for everyday journeys but will also bring many health, financial and environmental benefits.”