THE charitable group set up to preserve Helensburgh's pier has said it will need to adopt a more aggressive approach to have any chance of saving the category C-listed landmark.

Providing an update to the town's community councillors, members of the Helensburgh Seafront Development Project (HSDP) were also critical of Argyll and Bute Council, saying their current partnership with the local authority is proving unsuccessful.

A feasibility study was concluded at the end of last year to identify options for making the pier - which has been closed to all marine traffic on safety grounds since October 2018 - a productive part of the community once again.

The council previously proposed a figure close to £1 million to complete a full structural repair of the pier to allow it to be used by vessels such as the paddle steamer Waverley.

However, no major funding has been committed to the cause in recent months besides around £16-18,000 to improve public access.

READ MORE: Councillors back call for 'no major spending' on Helensburgh's pier

HSDP representative David Cantello told the latest Helensburgh Community Council meeting: "The council have determined that they would just refurbish the pier to the extent where they would make it safe for pedestrians; putting guard rails up and replacing some of the deck matting which hides a multitude of sins including rotten timbers.

"Currently their stated intentions are just to render it a walkway.

"To our minds this is a dreadful waste of a piece of marine infrastructure on the north shore of the Clyde."

Fellow HSDP member Brian Robertson said: "At the last public meeting we asked the public to vote on three options for how they wanted us to go ahead and by a vast majority they voted that we should liaise with Argyll and Bute Council and work in collaboration to try and get somewhere with the pier. Unfortunately now we have realised that that is not working.

"The phrase “keep your enemies even closer” was mentioned earlier on and I think that is what they are up to at the moment.

READ MORE: Waverley 'unlikely to return to Helensburgh any time soon', pier campaigners warn

"We have more or less decided that that approach is not working and we hope to go down the more aggressive route but at the moment what we’ve done recently is lobby MSPs and that is the direction we are going in.

"If we don’t get any joy from parliament, because that’s where the funding lies, not with Argyll and Bute Council, then we’re kind of stuck for ideas.

"We are appealing for a collaboration between our groups, we are stronger together."

Mr Cantello also pointed to refurbishment efforts at other piers in Argyll and Bute as evidence of the problems associated with such a huge task.

A £20,000 fund-raising appeal was launched earlier this year to support work at Blairmore pier, which was re-opened in 2005 after being bought by resident Agnes Harvey who had re-mortgaged her house to restore the derelict structure.

READ MORE: Helensburgh pier grant bid rejected by Argyll and Bute Council

But the notion of a community buyout of Helensburgh pier was dismissed after it was raised by community councillor Irina Agostinelli.

Mr Cantello said: "We considered this quite a while back, but if you buy it out and try to run it then you take on the responsibility for running it.

"Whilst Blairmore has done similar they are operating in ingress, to be frank. They have done a fantastic job but you are expected to run it the same as a commercial organisation, subject to health and safety laws etc.

"That is not something I personally wish to undertake. You can, if you wish, try to do it, but you will find yourself exposed quite considerably."

Discussing possible future plans for the pier, Mr Cantello suggested that pontoons could be installed for use by kayakers and small crafts or yachts.

READ MORE: In Pictures: Hundreds back rally to save Helensburgh's pier

He added: "Helensburgh pier’s problem is that it gets no income, so the council are loathe to provide any money whatsoever to us for any purpose apart from fencing it off.

"One of the key elements for us is that we have to make sure that it is a self-sustaining business, but that is just so dependent on actually getting the damn thing up.

"The issues involved in that tend to be subsumed in the idea that we get the pier saved and restored."

An Argyll and Bute Council spokesperson said: “We would love to be able to do everything our communities want us to do, but the harsh reality is that that’s just not possible.

"We deliver some services most other councils do not, and all our services tend to cost more to deliver.

“We are doing all we can for Helensburgh pier, with the money that is currently available, and hope HSDP will continue to work constructively with us.”

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