A CANDIDATE in this month’s Lomond North by-election has accused Argyll and Bute Council of excluding residents from discussions about the future of Kilcreggan’s pier.

Independent candidate Mark Irvine said he was “incandescent with rage” at the lack of consultation with residents on the Rosneath peninsula regarding the “lifeline” service.

The local authority is working with Transport Scotland and Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) on plans for a new vessel to serve the Kilcreggan-Gourock and Dunoon-Gourock passenger routes, as well as infrastructure work at all three piers to accommodate the new ship.

The council’s Bute and Cowal area committee was asked last week to approve the appointment of a councillor from the Dunoon ward to serve on a working group for the project, alongside Cowal councillor Alan Reid, who is already a member of the group.

The group’s terms of reference also list two members from Kilcreggan Community Council, Christine Murdoch and Alistair Lamont, as well as an Argyll and Bute councillor for the Lomond North ward – but that councillor is listed only as TBC (to be confirmed).

Mr Irvine said: “Our concern is that without representation, how can someone else know what’s best for here and be able to make earth-shattering and ground-breaking changes about the service and where it is located?

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“We’ve been promised engagement at some point down the line but it looks like the only thing we’ll have input on is what colour we paint the lamp posts - that’s clearly of great concern.”

Mr Irvine said he had concerns over whether a sum of £1.1 million earmarked for the project will be enough for the work proposed.

One possible solution mooted to enable passengers to board and disembark at Kilcreggan is a floating pontoon, which Mr Irvine said was “problematic”.

He said: “The fundamental issue here is if that floating pontoon breaks away, where does it float to? It’s not like Loch Long where the only place it could end up is Arrochar beach.

“Here it could float up the Clyde into the shipping channel, which would greatly annoy the MoD, I’m sure.”

He said people in the area are “completely gobsmacked” that a solution could be proposed which nobody is aware of and nobody is being consulted on.

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Ken Smith, the SNP’s candidate in the December 16 by-election, said he was in favour of using a larger ferry on this route to improve the reliability of the service.

However, he stated: “This should not be at the expense of accessibility.”

A council spokesperson said: “The infrastructure developments in Kilcreggan depend entirely on the dimensions and characteristics of the vessel they choose.

“Although the vessel choice for Kilcreggan is not yet finalised, we’ve decided to develop the Kilcreggan infrastructure based on the choice of vessel for Dunoon.

“It means we can progress to the end of the project and build in future resilience.

“Public engagement is part of the process. People should look out for information in December and January.”

It’s understood that the issue of nominating a Lomond North councillor to serve on the project working group will be considered at the next meeting of the authority’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee, to be held on December 17.