International organisations as well as local groups have expressed an interest in taking on Helensburgh’s waterfront development site, a report has revealed.
Details of the offers being made for the 1.38-acre area in front of the town’s £23m leisure centre are set to go before local councillors next week.
A total of nine applications have been received by council chiefs – revealed to be from international, national and local parties from community, infrastructure, retail, hotel and food retail.
A retail study has also been put into action which Argyll and Bute Council says will allay any concerns that respondents to a consultation may have around the site being used for retail purposes.
The report will go before the Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on Tuesday.
The public engagement exercise on the future of the site will be discussed in public, but the details of the nine proposals – and the seven that council officials say should be shortlisted to ‘proceed to the next stage for full financial offers’ – will be considered in private.
The report states that the details of each proposal, and which should go to the next stage of the process, are “publically (sic) restricted given commercially and financially sensitive nature of the live bidding process”.
Executive director Douglas Hendry said: “The initial marketing of the site has generated a strong level of interest and it is important to make the most of this interest to generate strong full financial offers.
“The assessment of the initial proposals has been undertaken with a number of good proposals progressing to the next stage.
“The community engagement exercise was well received and generated a wide variety of views along with some general themes for members to consider as the project progresses.
“Concerns around the impact of retail/commercial development of the site will be addressed by a retail study which has been instructed.”
The site was advertised in January, with bidders told there was a ‘favourable planning status’ and a preference for long term income.
Mr Hendry also outlined some of the findings from the consultation exercise, which took place in June.
He said: “Overall there was a strong preference for an option with at least some outdoor recreation space, ideally with seating and activities suitable for locals and visitors.
“Whilst some liked the idea of event space, others pointed out that there is already plenty of provision such as Civic Centre indoor outdoor event area, Colquhoun Square event area, Hermitage Park event area, Kidston Park, Helensburgh Pier car park pop-up events facilities.
“The prospect of retail/fast food was of considerable concern to some attendees, who are worried that it will have a damaging impact on local businesses which are already struggling.
“Concerns included an overprovision of certain types of retail or food offerings, creating more competition, and a concentration of business in the centre of town which could detract from those businesses based further along the promenade. However, younger people were particularly interested in high street chains such as Starbucks.
“Others would welcome a retail or hospitality option, provided it is in keeping with the needs of the town. For some, this could be a supermarket.
“For others, a clothes shop would be desirable since the recent loss of clothing retailers in the town. Some noted the setting would be ideal for a bar or restaurant looking out over the water to create a destination with a real wow factor.
“The prospect of a hotel received mixed feedback. It was considered by some attendees to be a real need in Helensburgh, as they struggle to find rooms for friends and family.
“The waterfront site could provide a very attractive spot for visitors to enjoy the view, perhaps with associated restaurants and bars. For others, there is sufficient existing provision and they were concerned a new hotel would take away customers from local businesses.”
Leave a Reply