MEMBERS of a Helensburgh panel set up to monitor the design of new buildings in the town have made a presentation about their work to a national forum.

Three members of Architecture and Design Helensburgh explained the formation of the group and the nature of their work at an event in Edinburgh organised by Architecture and Design Scotland.

The Helensburgh panel is the first community-based group to be invited to speak at the A&DS forum.

The local group was formed last year in response to several major planning applications for the Helensburgh area – at Ardencaple, at the Sawmill Field site east of Hermitage Academy, and at Helensburgh Golf Club.

Panel member Kathleen Siddle, who was joined by fellow A&DH members Iain MacLaren and Stuart Hannah at the Edinburgh event, said: “Our presentation included ‘bread and butter’ diagrams of the structure of the panel, excellent photographs of the vacant site at Ardencaple and its surroundings, and very exciting examples of building designs that would look superb on the Helensburgh pierhead site and be a magnet for the people of the town and for visitors.

“The panel is not against new houses being built in the town. Helensburgh people need them.

"But Helensburgh and its people need houses that help build communities and help protect our fine design legacy.

“The Ardencaple development is the ongoing subject of our first review panel.

“As a first for Scotland, there was a great deal of interest in the Edinburgh audience on how A&DH had been set up, the support we have had from Argyll and Bute Council, from organisations like Architecture and Design Scotland and the Glasgow Urban Design Panel and also in our work.

“We felt it had been a very successful day indeed, as in addition to the lively interest shown in Helensburgh by everybody there, we also learned a lot of practical tips for meetings with developers and on negotiations with them.”

Although several other Scottish towns and cities boast panels with a similar aim to that in Helensburgh, most are founded or staffed through government or local authorities.

Architecture and Design Helensburgh’s membership includes architects, a landscape architect, a project manager, a representative of the Helensburgh Heritage Trust and a town planner, as well as members of Helensburgh Community Council’s own planning group.

Persimmon Homes unveiled plans last year to build up to 85 properties at the Ardencaple site, off Glenoran Road, but the company’s indicative designs immediately attracted criticism from members of the community council.

Members of Helensburgh Golf Club have backed initial plans for a development of three hundred homes on part of their course,