COUNCILLORS have aired mixed views on the possible spend of £1million to deliver a renovation project at Helensburgh’s skating pond.
A report revealed the potential cost of a hybrid scheme, felt to offer ecological benefits and a quality site for visitors to the pond at the top of Sinclair Street.
A landscape architect involved in the project told councillors and community figures earlier this year that doing nothing was not an option.
Councillor Gary Mulvaney (Conservative, Helensburgh Central) expressed caution about the prospect of spending large sums of public money on the project.
Other councillors expressed more support at a meeting of Argyll and Bute Council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on Tuesday, December 9.
Councillor Mulvaney said: “I suppose the bottom line for me is that £1m of public money, whether it comes from Nature Scot or elsewhere, is not something I would be supportive of.
“Public money needs to be spent very carefully these days, and I am not sure we can justify it here.
“In terms of what we can justify, we can get back to more basic maintenance which makes it more usable, but to me we need to accommodate it within a small budget that we are not paying for as a council.
“The use of the pond primarily, when I have been there, is for dog walkers, and that is all very good, but to me, we need to be careful about how public money, and the scale of public money we are using.
“While I am not against spending a modest amount of taxpayers’ money and addressing some of the maintenance, I am not at the end of spending hundreds of thousands of pounds.
“I think there are better things we can spend it on and we could end up getting a high degree of criticism from the public.”
Councillor Math Campbell-Sturgess (SNP, Helensburgh and Lomond South) said: “I am not fully agreeing with Councillor Mulvaney, although I do accept he has a powerful point. There has to be acceptable use of public funds.
“The site is very well used. A friend of mine goes jogging up there because it is a safe place. I accept it needs cleaned up and if we had monitored it properly over the years we would not be here now.
“But putting in bridges and spending large amounts of money, while laudable, maybe not compared to clothing, feeding and housing. But do clean the pathways and get it usable again.”
Councillor Fiona Howard (Labour, Helensburgh Central) added: “I quite like the hybrid model, but it is a very important area, particularly for women, who feel safe there.
“It is quite an important space for relaxation and we know how important that is these days. It is a good idea to go ahead and do as much as we can to make the path safe for running on and clear it if we can, and look at funds as we go ahead.”
The committee then agreed to the recommendations in the report, including noting the potential £1m cost, for which officers are seeking external funding.
Updates regarding the skating pond and funding will be given to the committee at its future meetings.
