THE return of a skate park to Helensburgh's waterfront might not happen until next year as council bosses committed money to helping the facility find a permanent home.

The Helensburgh Skatepark Project (HSP) had expected to have a site restored by June ahead of the summer months.

It was a planning condition that it had to be restored in front of the new Helensburgh Leisure Centre once the old pool was demolished.

Instead, the former ramps have remained piled up behind fencing.

Helensburgh Advertiser:

And the entire site, including where the skate park could go, has been marketed for sale by Argyll and Bute Council.

READ MORE: Temporary skate park in Helensburgh ‘will be in place by summer’

Following repeated objections in the town to a large retail development on the site, and a desire to keep the skate park at the waterfront, the council is now putting up £80,000 to find a permanent home.

A council spokesperson said: "This is new money for a permanent solution in Helensburgh. The council is separately funding the temporary works with the contractor as part of the project costs." 

The money - from the authority's Place Based Investment (PBI) programme - was rubber-stamped at a meeting of the authority's policy and resources committee on August 10, along with funds for a Helensburgh shopfront improvements programme and other schemes in Dunoon, Lochgilphead, Oban, Tobermory and Campbeltown.

HSP, whose chairperson Jackie Hood said she was unaware of the £80,000 PBI funding prior to being contacted by the Advertiser, will work with the local authority to find a new home, according to a council document.

Jackie Hood, who runs HSP, said she understood a contract had been signed with Unit 23 in Dumbarton to build new, but temporary, ramps for the existing waterfront site.

The previous equipment has been in storage for years and is not fit to use.

She said: "The contract has been awarded to Unit 23 Skatepark and Monolith to design, build and maintain replacement temporary, wooden, demountable ramps.

"The council has insisted the equipment must be similar in size and dimensions to what was there before and cannot exceed 17m by 20m to meet the planning permission of the site: a half-pipe, a quarter pipe and an up-along-down box, with the addition of a couple of extra hips to make it flow better.

READ MORE: Kriss Kyle: BMX star backs Helensburgh skatepark project for town

"Unit 23 will start construction as soon as possible.

"HSP will be holding an meeting at the start of September to elect a new committee and to discuss whether to install as soon as the ramps are ready or store them over the worst of the winter months.

"HSP will hold an open day in the spring on the new equipment. HSP continues to work with Argyll and Bute Council to find a permanent location for the skate park."

The report to the committee's August 10 meeting says the council is "currently considering options for a site and working with group, funding would be focused on supporting this work and will help facilitate a permanent solution for the skate park".

It further states it contributes to the PBI goals of improving the "appeal of Helensburgh as a place to live and visit".

It describes the HSP funding as a "grant to third party subject to site confirmation and other agreements" and adds: "This money would be in addition to temporary works funding."

In a council press release, Councillor Robin Currie, leader of Argyll and Bute Council, said: “We are committed to enhancing and developing the facilities and infrastructure in our town centres and to ensuring that our residents and visitors continue to see Argyll and Bute as a great location to live, work and visit.

“The projects being funded by this latest allocation from the PBI programme will deliver benefits for communities across the area.”

The £80,000 is part of a PBI programme of £496,000 across the local authority.

Another £44,000 is to go to shopfront improvements in the Helensburgh Conservatiopn Area Regeneration Scheme zone.