THE team behind The Sill National Landscape Discovery Centre in Northumberland National Park are celebrating after scooping one of the most prestigious planning accolades of the year.

They were presented with the planning permission of the year award at the 2015 Planning Awards in London last week.

London-based engineering consultancy Cundall worked with the national park authority’s own planning team on the project.

The £14.8m centre, currently under construction, has been designed to promote the national park’s unique landscape and the businesses operating within its borders – and in turn the growth of the local rural economy.

It will house YHA accommodation, exhibition and retail space and a cafe.

Northumberland National Park’s chief executive Tony Gates said: “This award is an important national endorsement of our work.

“I think this achievement is a great testament to the hard work and dedication of both our own planning team and that of our excellent planning consultants, Cundall.”

The Sill is the largest initiative of its kind for any of the national parks in the UK.

The judges were looking for projects that had the most significant positive impact on both their physical environment and the economic or social well-being of the surrounding communities.

The Sill is scheduled to open in the summer of 2017.