Provision of Interpretive Design, Project Management and Installation at Gnoll Estate Country Park Neath

Neath Port Talbot Council has recently been awarded UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF) to deliver the Vale of Neath Heritage Corridor Project. As part of this project the Council will be delivering major investment at Gnoll Estate Country Park including a new Visitor Centre, new outdoor play, visitor accommodation at Pond Cottage and a complete reinterpretation of the park and its historic landscape.

The Council has also secured funding from the Heritage Culture, Tourism and Events Fund a tranche of the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) to deliver digital interpretation as part of this overall project.

Following a tender process an award has been made by the Council for a project management and interpretive design consultancy to design and install an interpretive scheme across the Country Park in addition to project management of the interpretation project and consultation with key parties.

Due to differing funding deadlines for LUF and SPF the project has been broken down into three distinct work packages.

Some elements of Work Package 1, namely the design of digital interpretation, branding and visual identity and community consultation, in addition to all elements of Work Package 2 will need to be delivered in full by 31st March 2025. All other remaining elements of Work Package 1 and 3 must be delivered in full by 31st March 2026.

The reinterpretation of the historic parkland is a key output of the LUF project which aims to enable the local community and visitors to better understand the significance of key features of the park and the important role that the Estate has played in the wider context of the town of Neath. The environmental and biodiversity significance of the park should also be a key message within the interpretive scheme.

All deliverables as part of this project must take full account of accessibility for a wide range of resident and visitor needs. All elements must be delivered bilingually in Welsh and English. The costs of this should be accounted for within your submission.

The wider LUF funded project is of significant size and scope, the successful consultancy will be required to liaise with the wider project management team in order to understand any complexities, timescales and ensure that the context of the development is factored into the interpretive scheme.

All elements of the project will be delivered by no later than 31st March 2025 for Work Package 2 and 31st March 2026 for Work Package 3. Work Package 1 should be split across stages 2 and 3 with some elements in Work Package 1 (i.e. visual identity and branding, being required to inform Work Package 2).

This project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.