Consultation results should be published ‘on a timely basis’, councillors were told last week – with results of a key survey still not revealed six months after it closed.
The preferred option for Kilcreggan Harbour – a large pontoon and breakwater costing £9.6m plans – was first revealed in January 2022, with a group campaigning to save the village’s Victorian pier being formed within days.
The plan was greeted by a huge backlash and calls for alternatives to be considered, but Argyll and Bute Council eventually stuck with its initial preferred option, named ‘4A’.
A public consultation on the designs drawn up by consultants Mott MacDonald was heavily criticised, with the wording being changed twice.
Initially it asked respondents if they were from Kilcreggan, Rosneath or a ‘non-Dunoon-Cowal resident’.
This wording was then changed to ‘non- Helensburgh and Lomond resident’ but councillors also criticised this, saying that people in Helensburgh itself might think it didn’t apply to them.
The consultation then closed on March 26 but the results have still not been made public – although results of the equivalent consultation for Dunoon Harbour were published after two months.
Those results showed that less than a third of people supported the £7m preferred option, which was also drawn up by Mott MacDonald.
A council spokesperson said of the Kilcreggan consultation this week: “The project is paused pending confirmation from Transport Scotland regarding funding for the vessels.
“We will be publishing all of the consultation results in due course.”
The council’s audit and scrutiny panel produced a length report on consultations this summer, which councillors considered at a meeting last week.
It listed six recommendations, including: “Officers should be reminded of the need to publish results of consultations on the council’s web page on a timely basis.”
It also refers to UK Government Principles, including: “Publish responses within 12 weeks of the consultation or provide an explanation why this is not possible.”
Why does Option 4A continue to be referred to as “the preferred option” when it clearly is not. It is only preferred by a company of architects and a handful of councillors. However, hundreds of people of Kilcreggan have shown that it is certainly not their preferred option. The council will not publish the results of the survey because they are aware of this and it doesn’t support their case. This has to be referred to the Scottish government if they dare to try to go ahead.
On the other hand Scotland is broke. A recent report from Audit Scotland suggests they can’t afford the duelling of the A9 and many other “priority” projects which will be cancelled or at least kicked into the long grass for a few years, so what is the chance of this project going ahead?