WORK to breathe new life into the area surrounding the Wallace Monument in Elderslie is under way and could be completed within weeks.

The contractor took possession of the site on Main Road on Monday, July 22, with the soft landscaping expected to last a total of four weeks.

It follows a decision earlier this year to spend an estimated £43,000 on the project, covering new shrub and bulb planting, tree works, areas of wildflower and the creation of “more formal” grass areas for community events.

Councillor Andy Steel, an SNP representative for Johnstone South and Elderslie, said: “I’m pleased to see this work starting.

“While there’s obviously a historic element, the SNP administration is also pushing tourism as a driver of our communities and economies and the Wallace Monument must be central to that, with its national and worldwide appeal. It has to be in decent order for visitors.

“The shrubs that have been in place aren’t very attractive and don’t do a lot beyond catching litter, so I’m looking forward to more flowers through spring and summer, creating a softer landscape around the monument.

“Once the landscaping has been improved, the job will be to renovate the monument itself, as well as the paths and access around it.

“I hope the heritage funding bodies are well prepared because we’ll be bombarding them a bit with applications – but if something like this doesn’t qualify for a grant I don’t know what does.”

The investment was agreed at the local authority economy and regeneration policy board in March.

The monument celebrates the ‘Guardian of Scotland’ – a hero to many Scots for his feats in battle during the Scottish Wars of Independence – in the village where he is thought to have been born.

Wallace, whose life was famously dramatised by the film Braveheart, was born around 1270 and lived until 1305.

The knight was betrayed to the English, captured and sentenced to death in London where he was hung, drawn and quartered.