A PUBLIC consultation on Helensburgh's new waterfront leisure centre will begin next month – after significant changes to the design of the building were approved by councillors.

The building – part of the town's £18 million waterfront redevelopment – isn't due to be completed until 2021, but the members of the project team are already bracing themselves for issues likely to concern local residents.

Several changes to the 2016 design brief for the leisure centre were presented to councillors last week – the most notable being a change in the position of the centre and a 90-degree shift in its orientation.

The plan now is for the centre to be sited on the southern end of the pier head, rather than the western edge as previously proposed, and for the main elevations to run east-to-west rather than north-to-south.

And there are changes to the inside of the centre too: the original plan for a competition pool with 150 spectator seats has been scrapped, with a community pool and “multi-purpose spectator area” inserted instead.

The project team is also set to ask people whether the existing public toilets on the pier should be retained, or whether they should be demolished and toilet provision on the pier included in the new centre instead.

Detailed consultation with users and community groups is due to get under way on January 31.

A report on the project’s progress, presented to the council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on December 21, stated: “Given the level of community engagement that has taken place over the years, relating not only to the Helensburgh waterfront development but to the wider regeneration of Helensburgh town centre, it is possible to identify the likely matters that the community will be particularly interested in and in which they will be seeking comfort that their interests are being addressed.

“The consultation process will provide the community with further opportunities to express their own views.”

The report recommends that the project team prepare statements on 14 separate subjects relating to the new centre, “clearly outlining how the team proposes proposes addressing the matter and the issues that were considered in reaching their proposal”.

The 14 issues listed as “likely matters of concern/debate” include:

- Car and coach parking provisions

- The pool’s ability to host swimming galas

- Provision for pre-fives and teenagers

- The sustainability of a moveable floor

- Traffic management

- Flood defence work

- The impact of the new facility on the surrounding environment

- The impact of the retail development, which also forms part of the masterplan, on the surrounding area

- The timescale

- The likely disruption during building work

- The continuity of swimming pool provision.

The first phase of consultation with user groups is expected to begin at the end of January.

Depute council leader Gary Mulvaney, the authority’s policy lead for strategic finance and capital regeneration, and a ward councillor for central Helensburgh, told the committee: “This is a long and complex project, both in terms of the building itself and the flood defences around it.

“We’re now at the point where we can go out to consultation, though this is not a consultation about what the pool should have and how it should look.

“At the end of January we can go out and engage with the public, community groups and focus groups, and the feedback we get will be very useful.”

Council leader Aileen Morton, who also represents the Helensburgh Central ward, asked project manager Andrew Collins if new computer-generated images could be produced of the facility based on the latest changes to the brief.

Mr Collins replied that those should be ready in January.