A care home looks set to be built on a the site of a former roads depot next to Hermitage Park.

The announcement this week that a preferred bidder for the site had now been chosen have dashed plans to use it for community facilities.

In a move which seemed to have widespread support in the Burgh, Friends of Hermitage Park made an offer to buy the site with the intention of providing storage facilities for local groups and a home for the Helensburgh and District Men’s Shed.

They also planned an equipment and tool bank a plant nursery.

This week the Friends group branded the decision to sell the site to another bidder as "short-sighted".

They said: "We are very disappointed that our bid for the depot site was unsuccessful and regret that we will not be able to deliver the much needed community facilities and contribution towards a sustainable future for Hermitage Park detailed in our Community Asset Transfer Request.

Councillor Ellen Morton, who chairs the Helensburgh and Lomond Area Committee, told the Advertiser this week the amount offered by the preferred bidder was "significantly higher than the asking price and represented a good deal for the tax payers".

Cllr Morton added: "I can confirm that there is now a preferred bidder identified with a proposal for a care home facility, and that the council has accepted the highest offer, which is a significant sum.

"Officers are now exploring how to move forward to conclude the offer.

"The sale of the depot site was part of the business case, agreed a few years ago, for the roads depot at the top of Sinclair Street which was to be funded partly from the sale of the many depots we had across the town.

"Before the new roads depot was built, our gritting lorries had to go to Renton to pick up their grit every winter morning, and we were storing salt for the roads in the open.

"We are now able to save time and money and protect the environment by keeping materials locally, and keeping our salt in a covered salt dome reducing the risk of salt leeching into our water courses.

"We were also able to move our bin motors away from the depot in Grant Street, vacate the depot in Lomond Street thus providing a home for our Social Work Department and for Helensburgh and Lomond Carers.

"We were also able to end an expensive lease of another depot site in the town centre."

Cllr Morton, who chairs the Helensburgh and Lomond area committee, added that the Hermitage depot sale was the last piece in this jigsaw. She said the town and the taxpayer had already reaped significant benefits from the plan and the taxpayer would further benefit by this sale.

"I know many community groups suffer from a lack of storage space for their equipment and I have been working with a number of them for many months on finding a solution to this and I am very hopeful that this issue can be resolved fairly soon."

Friends of Hermitage Park offered £150,000 for the site and identified some £130,000 per annum added value and cost savings to Argyll and Bute Council.

Their statement said: "The community benefit and contribution to health and wellbeing would have been considerable."

"It is disappointing the council chose short term gain rather than the long term community benefit that would have realised the key outcomes aspired to in the council’s Outcome Improvement Plan and Corporate Plan."

The Friends thanked their many supporters who gave the project their backing and regretted "that so many local community groups desperate for facilities have been disappointed".

They added: "The Friends look forward to continuing our partnership with Argyll and Bute Council and delivering a regenerated Hermitage Park due to re-open this autumn."

Cllr Morton said senior councillor officers would make the final decision under the normal procedure of delegated powers.

An Argyll and Bute Council spokesperson said: “Thank you to everyone who submitted a tender.

"As expected our priority is to make the best possible use of public assets for the wider community.

"We have identified the preferred bidder and discussions are ongoing, with the aim of progressing towards a sale in due course.”