Argyll and Bute Council, as owners, and The Helensburgh Pier Company Limited, a charity, are working closely together to secure a positive future for Helensburgh Pier.
There are steps that need to be taken to enable the pier to re-open safely. The Council is in the process of commissioning a structural survey to identify what repairs are required. At the same time the charity and Council are working together to develop a lease of the pier that the charity could take on and use to seek external funding for repairs needed to allow the closure notice to be lifted and the pier to be reopened safely.
John Beveridge, Trustee of the Helensburgh Pier Company, said: “Good progress is being made with obtaining the lease. We understand that both sides now agree the final terms of the lease and that it may be signed soon.” John continued: “When we apply for grants to repair the pier, we need to be certain that the council will lift the closure notice once the repairs are carried out, and that is what is currently being discussed.”
The charity has a commitment from the paddle steamer Waverley that it will re-instate its regular summer calls at the pier when the closure notice is lifted and make a positive impact to the economy of the town and surrounding area.
Councillor Ross Moreland, Chair of Argyll and Bute Council’s Harbour Board, said: “We welcome the opportunity to be working on a future for the pier, and appreciate its importance to the town. The survey we are in the process of tendering will give us an up-to-date position on what repairs are necessary.
“Organisations like Helensburgh Pier Company can access funding that councils cannot, which is why this type of partnership working is invaluable to our communities. We totally support the charity bringing the pier being brought back into use and will continue to work closely with them to make that happen.”
Helensburgh pier is a Grade C listed structure and is described by Historic Environment Scotland as “a rare surviving example of early 19th century piers. It dates to the first successful paddle steamer, Henry Bell’s Comet. A new replica of the Comet has recently been unveiled in Port Glasgow so the reopening of Helensburgh pier and welcoming Waverley back would be a fitting tribute of Clyde shipbuilding.
Notes
- The Helensburgh Pier Company Limited is a charity registered in Scotland No. 530730 in 2024 with the aim of reopening the pier to all users.
- Further developments are planned once the pier is reopened such as a pontoon in the inner harbour area to allow public access to the water and to encourage tenders from cruise ships to dock at the town
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Argyll and Bute Council is the owner of the pier and as such controls its use. The marine closure notice was made in 2018, but more recently the pier has been fenced off so there is no public access due to health and safety issues.
