AMBITIOUS initial proposals for the National Marine Centre in North Berwick have been revealed.

If given the go-ahead, the plans could see the Scottish Seabird Centre joined to its current education centre, which sits adjacent to the main Seabird Centre building, by a glass bridge.

An extension would be added to the front and rear of the current Seabird Centre, while the proposals also include a new 360-degree observatory at the existing education centre.

The exhibitions would also be re-worked, although details are being worked on, but drawings indicate a walk-through experience.

Seabird Centre bosses were keen to stress the plans were at a very early stage and that the National Marine Centre was still a working title for the project.

The initial plans are part of a £5.5 million project which focuses on delivering enhanced education and conservation programmes.

Grace Martin, project director for the National Marine Centre, told the Courier: “The Scottish Seabird Centre currently offers visitors an opportunity to engage with nature in a sustainable way.

“As a conservation and education charity, we welcome 4,000 schoolchildren a year and lead projects such as SOS Puffin.

“But, as with all charities, we must move with the times to remain viable and to achieve our objectives of inspiring people to care for wildlife and the natural environment.”

She hopes that the proposed marine centre, which would accommodate a much larger education space than is currently offered, would allow for increased engagement with schools.

She added: “We have more education requests that we can accommodate and visitor expectations are at an all-time-high.

“We regularly get asks from schools and we’ve got to say no because we’re just not able to fit them all in.”

The next stage of the plans will be a series of public consultation events in North Berwick this month.

Those will take place at Abbey Church on Monday (10.30am-8pm), whynot? next Thursday between noon and 4pm, and at the Seabird Centre’s education centre on April 19 between 4pm and 7pm.

Grace was keen to get the views of the community, adding: “As we develop the plans, we believe it is essential to get ideas, feedback and comments from as many people as possible to ensure the new attraction is one that is based on collaboration and partnership, working from the ground up.

“Our vision is to create a centre that is of national significance and one that the local community is proud of.”

She also explained what happens next.

“We’ve got an application for funding of £3.5 million to send to Heritage Lottery Fund which we’re hoping to do in June but we’ve got to submit a planning application before then, so we’re hoping to do that either this month or in May,” she said.

“The application process is a very lengthy one so we’ve been working on that for some time. We’ve also got about £2 million to fundraise before the end of the year.”

If the ambitious plans are given the green light, Seabird Centre officials estimate work could begin next year, with the proposed new centre open in 2020.

The opening date for the expanded centre has been planned to coincide with VisitScotland’s Year of Scotland’s Coasts and Waters.