Local group, Argyle and Bute Citizens Demanding Extra Funding for Grass in Helensburgh, are said to be “over the moon” at the number of residents who believe the pierhead site should be developed for leisure.
Read more: ABCDEFGH delighted by HCC survey results“The response from the 10% of residents who could be arsed to complete the online survey clearly shows that over 40% of people want the barren wasteland in waiting to be transformed into an area for recreation.” An ABCDEFGH spokesperson told the ‘Adviser.
Unfortunately, it’s long been a theme that one or more of the clowns in Helensburgh Community Council believe some kind of retail development is essential for making the pierhead look like every other dying coastal town in Britain. Presumably featuring retail development that’s subsidised to sweeten the cost of construction that will then “create jobs for the town” in some inconceivable way that Tesco, Morrisons, the Co-op, numerous bars and restaurants, and a large scale naval base can’t quite manage.
“We’d love to see that entire area thrown open to leisure and recreation. It could feature a skatepark, a basketball court, a five-a-side football pitch, and a soft play area, as well as the grass we’re hoping for too. It should be somewhere that’s vibrant and sets Helensburgh apart. Slapping a set of shops down for some subsidised chain to sign a five year lease on before disappearing and leaving it to rot should not be the priority.” the ABCDEFGH spokesperson added.
Despite the 41% of respondents preferring “leisure”, some 26% of people clicked the box for “retail” in the survey. Like Helensburgh’s small businesses need to be any more under the post-pandemic, Brexit-weighted cosh.
With any luck, the overtures of ABCDEFGH will prevail and there’ll be something on the abruptly abandoned acre of rocks before the decade is out and it reaches listed status with the National Trust for Scotland.
