Documents recording the Strategic Delivery and Development Framework (SDDF) meetings between the council and MoD have been released under Freedom of Information legislation.
They reveal that council officials and the MoD have met 20 times since December 2016, with new housing developments a frequent topic because 1,700 service personnel and their families were due to move to the area.
Regeneration of the Rosneath Peninsula, including Garelochhead, was discussed several times, including this being part of the council’s £50m rural growth deal.
The meetings were held behind closed doors and printed records are brief, but minutes of the first meeting of the SDDF’s senior management group state: “Accommodation proposals should not be restricted to Helensburgh and should also look at the Rosneath Peninsula (e.g. Garelochhead, Kilcreggan etc) as well as other areas of Argyll where appropriate with a view to regeneration of those communities.”
Six months later the minutes state: “Accommodation should feature as part of future plans for regeneration of settlements on the peninsula.”
In 2018 it was stated that the rural growth deal would include the following items for the Helensburgh and Lomond area:
- Creating a business hub and potential for an innovation hub
- Place making – sustainable transport links
- Regenerate villages along peninsula.
- Stem support, skills development to support business requirements in the area.
‘Other potential sites’ for private sector housing around the peninsula, towards Arrochar and at Cardross were discussed in 2019.
And later that year minutes state: “Place making peninsula for people to relocate. Members are keen to see benefits for community re place making.”
The council was asked this week what the placemaking and regeneration initiatives would involve, and why MoD personnel had more knowledge of this than local residents did.
A spokesperson said: “No decisions have been taken on place making investments through the rural growth deal.
“The MoD have no more information on this matter than local communities.”
Regeneration of the peninsula was discussed five times in meetings with MoD personnel present, but it has not appeared in any public council documents and there has been no public consultation.
The rural growth deal was approved by the council in October 2018, but regeneration of the peninsula and Garelochhead was not mentioned in a 24-page briefing document which listed projects and was discussed in public by councillors.
There are references to ‘regeneration’, but there is no indication of where this would happen – and each reference includes the phrase ‘community-led’.
The deal was formally announced in October 2019; it is funded by both the UK and Scottish governments and was backed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he visited Faslane.
Minutes of the SDDF meetings are here: SDDF-Board_Agendas-and-Minutes-2016-to-2020 SDDF-Senior-Management-Group_Agendas-and-Minutes-2016-to-2020
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