A line of bunting may have disappeared from Cove Sailing Club, but dividing lines over plans for a new clubhouse seem far more permanent.
The eye-catching bunting was put up by members concerned about the height of the proposed new building, but mysteriously disappeared a few days later.
Meanwhile, comments supporting and opposing the plan have been piling up on Argyll and Bute Council’s website – currently there are 19 in favour and 10 against, some of them members of the sailing club.
And the process seems likely to drag on, especially since the council acknowledged today – five weeks after the plans were validated – that Historic Environment Scotland should be consulted because of the impact on the listed buildings nearby and the Cove and Kilcreggan Conservation Area.
There is widespread agreement that the current clubhouse, which is more than 30 years old, needs to be replaced, but the design and especially the height of the proposed replacement have caused concern.
Fiona Kilgore has been a member of the sailing club for decades and took a leading role in raising money for the new clubhouse fund – but she has objected to the plan, saying it isn’t suitable for an area with several listed buildings, including four designed by Alexander Greek Thomson.
She said the bunting was put up to demonstrate the ridge height of the new building and the impact it would have on the site.
“The design lacks imagination for such a prominent village location set amongst some listed properties and Thomson architecture,” she said.
“It makes no attempt to work with the site – the ‘look’ is not right for Cove, a shore-side stunning site.”
Club commodore John McNeilage said sailing club members should have been aware of the plans because of emails, and they had been available at the last two annual general meetings: “If members had turned up to the AGM, they would have had a look at the drawings and they would have had an option to say if they didn’t like it.”
He said the building would cost between £250,000 and £300,000, and construction was two or three years in the future.
The floor height of the new building had been raised to the level of the car park because SEPA had ruled out a septic tank, he said, while the architect had made the pitch of the roof as low as possible for a building of that width: “They can’t make the pitch any lower because there would be no strength in it.”
He said the priority was to secure initial planning permission so that applications for funding could be made and welcomed the fact that people were now talking about the proposals.
He added: “I’m positive about the plans because I want the club to go forward and I’m also positive about the usage of the club, it’s not just about the sailing, club, it’s the whole peninsula.
“More and more people will use it, it will go forward rather than stay stagnant.
“On a personal note I would like to work with the people who have an objection, they can come along and talk to me.”
Details of the plans are on the council’s website – the reference number is 17/01415/PP .
Drawings of the new building which were supplied as part of the application area available in this earlier story.
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