PICNIC benches have been suggested to be installed in Helensburgh’s Colquhoun Square – but not everybody agrees.
The discussion came after council officials were praised for their work to clean benches at the town centre site, allowing the public to enjoy the warm weather over the weekend.
An Argyll and Bute Council officer said that the possibility of picnic benches had been talked about, and a councillor said that he supported the idea.
However, Cameron Foy, of Helensburgh Community Council, voiced concern about the amount of extra space that any such facilities would need.
The debate took place at a meeting of the council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on Tuesday, March 10.
Mr Foy said: “Thank you to the team who cleaned the benches in Colquhoun Square. The sun was shining and it felt like spring, with lots of people enjoying the benches on Saturday and Sunday. Will cleaning benches become a regular maintenance job?”
Mark Calder, the council’s project manager, responded: “We had a report at the last area committee meeting [in December] about some legacy funds remaining from CHORD. We are working on different proposals and one of those is creating a maintenance fund to be used going forward.
“We had a company in to do a trial to see how the benches came up. I expected they would do two or three of them, but they made remarkable progress and did them all.
“They do a steam clean and protect them from fungus and algae. We are pleased with the results and need to leave it a few weeks before we see how they look from there.
“We talked about replacing them with picnic benches, so I suppose the answer is that it will remain the same, but steam cleaning was very cost-effective, so it would be sensible to look at putting aside some funding for long-term maintenance.”
Councillor Math-Campbell-Sturgess (SNP, Helensburgh and Lomond South) then said: “As part of that fund, we should look at picnic benches, because we have so many events in the square revolving around food, and a shortage of places to sit and eat.
“It is something we should look at, because the more people can stay and have something to eat, the more they can make use of the square.”
Mr Foy responded: “I think there would be concern about picnic benches in the square, as the tables would add to the floor space being taken up, rather than go around the edges.
