Plans have been lodged for a workshop building at a historic garden site on the Rosneath Peninsula.
The Linn Botanic Gardens, in Cove, could see the facility installed under the proposal to Argyll and Bute Council by Matthew Young.
Mr Young bought the property alongside Kathrin Hamilton after years of neglect, and since then they have embarked on a comprehensive restoration programme.
Created by botanist and climate activist Jim Taggart, who died in 2019, and developed with his late son Jamie, the site is described as an “idiosyncratic oasis”.
Council officials are expected to rule on the application for listed building consent by the end of June, with the public now able to view the plans and submit feedback.
A design statement by Brian Currie Architecture said: “The need for a permanent workshop for the gardens was identified early in the formulation of the garden’s strategic management plan to provide suitable accommodation for site operatives, machinery, equipment repair and consumables. Simple welfare facilities were also seen as a priority.
“Whilst accepting some existing trees will require to be removed where they occur within the footprint of the proposed workshop great care will be taken to safeguard important species through designating root protection areas and designing sub structures accordingly.
“The site selected within the gardens is seen as the most visually unobtrusive yet accessible from a range of possible options considered and was indeed the site of previous maintenance facilities in the form of steel shipping containers.
“The scale and roof form of the adjacent Linn Cottage is also seen as a factor informing the roof and height of the workshop.
“A simple, domestic scaled, building using natural materials combined with contemporary building services nestling within existing trees, some of substantial size, is felt the most appropriate design response in the context of the overall gardens.”
The statement added: “The gardens are centred on a category B-listed, gabled villa called The Linn, which occupies the most elevated part of the site and which commands some views to the west across the mountains of the Cowal Peninsula and south-west, over the Firth of Clyde and the island of Bute to the mountains of Arran.
“These views are now partially or fully obscured by mature trees and woodland.
“Although the gardens encompass a total area of only 1.25 ha. (three acres), the steep rocky terrain and a serpentine path network create an illusion of much greater extent than in reality, and combine to afford glimpsed surprise views from many parts of the garden.”
To view the plans and submit feedback, visit the council website – the reference number 26/00630/LIB.
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