A HELENSBURGH supermarket wants to sublet its site to a discount rival, it has been alleged.

Helensburgh Community Council (HCC) said they understood the Co-op is offering their Sinclair Street site lease.

The land is owned by Argyll and Bute Council but the Co-op can sublet it when they move to the town's waterfront as planned by the local authority and developers.

In August, the council named Forrest Group as their preferred bidder, with a supermarket at its heart. No specifics have been offered beyond both parties welcoming the decisions.

The sale of the land is estimated to raise £1 million for the council, not including potentially significant infrastructure work that would be needed.

HCC slammed the council for breaking its own masterplan for the land - and the Co-op for wanting a site they objected to back in 2000.

Using Freedom of Information laws, they confirmed the Co-op first approached the council in 2021 before the site of the former swimming pool was cleared.

The council responded that their plans were bringing private investment to the town but commercial reasons meant some information would not be public.

The Co-op have been approached for comment.

In a statement, HCC said: "It is obvious that the Co-op has been downsizing their existing retail space and, if they are seeking a building which is half the size of their existing property then this would be a 1,200sqm supermarket.

"We are also aware, from contacts in the retail property market, that the Co-op is offering their existing property for sale on an off-market forum and that a discount retailer (which is not Aldi or Lidl) is the front-runner for that property.

"Argyll and Bute Council own the ground on which the existing Co-op is built, but the terms of the ground lease (which is publicly available from the Registers of Scotland) provide the council with no control over any future tenant to which the Co-op could sublease their building.

"Therefore Argyll and Bute Council have no control over this valuable site in the town and, if they continue to allow the Co-op to build on the waterfront then the Sinclair Street Co-op site could be let to any operator (or could be left vacant)."

The community council said the smaller size Co-op, together with additional smaller retail units, would still be contrary to the approved masterplan for the waterfront. That called for four medium-sized retail units.

They said: "To squeeze in this larger supermarket as well as further smaller units, it seems that the developers will have to sacrifice the public realm space, additional bus and coach parking and will reduce the skate park to half the current size, all of which also breaks commitments made in the approved masterplan."

The council has made repeated attempts to get a supermarket onto the town's waterfront over the past quarter century - and all have met public opposition.

Thousands of people have signed a petition against a supermarket, but the council insisted there was no unanimity amongst the 83 people they surveyed in 2023.

Since then the bids for the site and the decision process has been shrouded in secrecy. The only council committee meeting held in public offered no public answers to concerns raised - only privately in writing later.

The council continues to direct residents to a question and answer page on their website about the development.

In a statement, a spokesperson said: "While other towns may be struggling to attract investment, the mixed-use approach of the waterfront development has secured public investment and now the interest of the private sector that makes possible the transformation of the waterfront area as a key resource for day-to-day life and the longer-term future of Helensburgh.

"As this is a commercial transaction, there are certain details that cannot be shared at this stage.”

HCC noted the Scottish Government rejected plans for a supermarket on the waterfront, declaring that it was "not a suitable site". HCC said the Co-op agreed with the objections in 2000.