OPPONENTS of Helensburgh's waterfront supermarket plan will take their opposition to outside councillors who will have the final say.

Helensburgh Community Council (HCC) members said they would travel to Lochgilphead on Thursday for the quarterly policy and resources committee.

The committee, chaired by council leader Jim Lynch and mostly made up of members from outwith Helensburgh and Lomond, decided in August to name Forrest Developments as the preferred bidder for the town's waterfront.

HCC have repeatedly asked to meet with Cllr Lynch with their concerns.

At the latest HCC meeting on November 28, the community was updated as it awaits news of whether the Court of Session will allow a request for a judicial review of the council's decision to go ahead.

Vice convener Polly Jones called it a "road trip" and asked for as many people to join them as possible. She said they would write in advance, inviting councillors to meet with then.

She said: "It feels appropriate to be outside just so these councillors know they're being observed.

"You don't need to come to Helensburgh, we will come to you.

"We need councillors to know they're being observed and we can't be brushed away solely because they don't come here."

The policy and resources committee agreed in secret in August and it will be the planning committee that would, in theory, have the next stage of the waterfront development.

Argyll and Bute Council on their waterfront Q&A website state that is expected early in 2025.

The Co-op is understood to be planning to move from Sinclair Street to the waterfront as part of Forrest's development. But this has not been made public by any party. Co-op previously said they supported the Forrest bid, and now mock-ups from Forrest have been presented to councillors showing the Co-op logo on a building.

HCC convener Dr Peter Brown pointed to the changing size of the proposed retail space on the waterfront over two decades of attempts by the council to use the land.

And he highlighted the 2002 rejection of a proposal for a supermarket there - one he copied all 297 pages of from public records - where the Co-op objected to the plans.

In it, the Scottish Government reporter concluded the loss of trade for "smaller outlets would severely affect town centre vitality and viability. The applicants suggest that the impact might close one or two of the 11 existing convenience outlets, but that is an under-estimate".

It also stated: "[A supermarket] is not capable of co-existing with the town centre without undermining its vitality and viability."