DETAILED plans to revitalise South Park in Darlington have been unveiled.

Darlington Borough Council has been working for almost five years on proposals to restore the run-down park, which dates back to 1851.

Next month, it will hear if its bid for Heritage Lottery funding for the £3.8m scheme has been successful.

Norman Maltby, council community projects officer, said the plans were the result of consultation with the public.

He said: "The idea is to give the public a sense of ownership. We hope to restore the park to what we feel it would have looked like."

If the scheme is approved, the Heritage Lottery will meet 75 per cent of the costs and the council the remainder.

Work would start fairly quickly and take 18 months to two years to complete.

In an effort to minimise vandalism, the first stage would be the ten-month restoration of crumbling railings and gates, which date back to 1925.

Mr Maltby said: "The idea is to secure the park before we do other work."

The plans go on display in the Dolphin Centre for three days starting on Wednesday, March 13, and in the park tearoom the following Saturday.

The proposals are:

* Park Lodge, which dates to 1853, will be restored and become the base for a new park manager and a park ranger. New toilets will be constructed and a classroom built to encourage school visits. The large hedge between the lodge and caf will be removed and the area turned into a plaza, with chairs, tables and trees.

* The tearoom will be restored and movable screens installed allowing visitors to look out over the plaza.

* The Fothergill fountain, near the aviary, will move to the main entrance. The maintenance compound will move to the eastern end of the park.

* The main play area will be moved further back into the trees to give it a woodland feel. Most play equipment will go, although a set of swings will be provided. The centrepiece will be a wooden adventure area with towers, slides, ropewalks, bridges and a net for climbing. The ground surface will be matting.

* The play area near the eastern gate will go. After consultations with local young people, the teenagers' area between Bedford Street and Henderson Street will be revamped with a skatepark and ball court.

* Sediment from the lake will be dredged and new planting including reedbeds and low railings placed round the lake edge, partly to disrupt the landing pattern of the aggressive Canada geese to force them to go elsewhere. The council says bird feeding causes problems in the static water with uneaten bread sinking to the bottom. Mr Maltby said: "We hope to educate people not to feed the birds at the lake and feed them from the bridge over the Skerne instead."

* The old model boating pool will be demolished and replaced with reed beds.

* The 1925 terracotta fountain will be restored.

* The Grotto arch, lost when vandals set fire to a car beneath it, will be replaced and the Grotto turned into a sensory garden after consultation with people including Darlington woman Rosemary Sandford, who is registered blind and hard of hearing.

* The restored 1881 bandstand will become the focal point for events. The rotting tiers of seating will be removed and the area used by skateboarders will be grassed over and benches provided.

* On the western side of the bridge over the Skerne, the dilapidated rose garden will be expanded into a council-owned garden in Grange Road. There will be an extra entrance off Grange Road. New planting and paths will be introduced and the rose garden retained. The height of the enclosing hedge will be reduced. Mr Maltby said: "At the moment, people do not feel safe in there."

* The rockery will also be restored