PLANS to provide a park-and-ride facility on the site of a former gasometer in Helensburgh town centre are still on schedule, according to two of the town's councillors.

The Advertiser reported last April on Argyll and Bute Council's successful bid for £80,000 to buy a site in Maitland Street from Scottish Gas Networks (SGN).

Talks over the purchase of the site are still ongoing, but it's understood that an agreement could be reached in the next few weeks.

The facility, if and when it's built, is expected to create up to 57 additional spaces for motorists within easy reach of Helensburgh Central railway station.

And those extra parking spaces are expected to be particularly important when work on the regeneration of the pier and waterfront area gets under way – expected to be in the summer of 2018 – and some of the parking spaces on the pier are temporarily lost.

Local councillor Ellen Morton, who is the authority's policy lead for amenity services, said: “Negotiations are still ongoing, but my understanding is we're very near to completion.

“I'm very anxious that we get this started quickly. We need parking provision in Helensburgh to be as good as we can possibly get it before we lose any spaces on the pier.

“The final design of the waterfront project hasn't been decided yet, but it's a certainty that during construction we will lose at least some of the spaces on the car park for safety reasons due to the machines putting in the flood defences, so let's get as many parking spaces as we can in the town centre.

“There are still some legal issues to be clarified, but I'm very optimistic that we will be able to reach an agreeent with SGN to enable us to deliver the additional parking spaces which the town needs.”

The Strathclyde Partnership for Transport approved the award of £80,000 last spring to buy the site and undertake design work.

The council is applying for further funding in 2017-18 to fully develop the site as a park and ride facility.

The project forms part of the council's economic development action plan (EDAP) for the Helensburgh and Lomond area.

An update on funding for all four of the council's area EDAPs will be provided to the authority's environment, development and infrastructure committee, which is due to meet on January 19.

Helensburgh Central councillor Aileen Morton, who is also the authority's policy lead for economic development and strategic tourism, said: “After I was elected in 2012 one of the first approaches I made was to Scottish Gas Networks to get the gasometer site looking more presentable, which resulted in the repainting of the gates on East Princes Street.

“When the gasometer was decommissioned later that year - Helensburgh had the last working gasometer in Scotland - I campaigned to have it removed.

“It took two years for the gasometer to be demolished but I am delighted that a suitable use for the site has been identified and is now progressing.

“Helensburgh and the surrounding villages are great places to live, and many local residents use the train to commute to Glasgow and further afield so this would be a really welcome improvement for the town.”

A council spokesperson said: “Negotiations are continuing over the acquisition of the former gasometer site.”