Confusing and “unfriendly” parking regulations are driving shoppers away from Helensburgh.

That’s the view of the town’s community council who have lambasted the “very disorganised” arrangements for parking in the Burgh.

At their April meeting, HCCmembers expressed wide-ranging dissatisfaction with the current set-up and called for a review to make parking easier, both for locals and for visitors coming to shop in the Burgh.

However, they ruled out asking Argyll and Bute Council for a parking “amnesty” which was suggested by community councillor David Allan.

Their discussion followed a presentation on how the public have responded to Argyll and Bute Council’s masterplan for Helensburgh waterfront.

The community council are undertaking a full public consultation on the plans and already 73 per cent of respondents have said parking provision on the prime Clydeside site is “insufficient”.

Community councillor John Tacchi said: “We need a comprehensive parking review, not piecemeal. There needs to be clarity through rational discussion with roads services.”

And convener Norman Muir said: “Until we rationalise it we won’t get anywhere. We need clarity and we will get it one way or another.”

After the meeting, convener Norman Muir told the Advertiser that some time ago the community council invoked the Community Empowerment Act 2015 to become a partner with Argyll and Bute Council in managing the roads infrastructure in Helensburgh.

He added: “Since then we have cleared the lines of communication between us and the community council will be starting in on the survey of the town.”

Cllr Muir said this would address parking, road and pavement conditions, signage, road markings such as yellow lines etc, street furniture maintenance “and the sins of omission of the past”.

He said: “Parking is the most emotive issue and will never satisfy everyone but I am sure we can develop the principles of fairness, where parking rules are enforced uniformly throughout the town.”

He wanted a situation where parking rules were known and widely disseminated so that no one was in any doubt as to the situation and parking was made user-friendly, particularly for tourists and visitors.

Councillor Ellen Morton, chair of the council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee, who attended the meeting, said the committee had raised a number of questions related to parking and they would be having a discussion about these with a transportation officer soon.

She added: “A parking study of the town centre has been carried out as part of the planning for the waterfront development and we are waiting for the results of that to come through.

“There are also recent developments like the new park and ride which have not yet bedded in so that will presumably impact on the town centre as well, as will the construction work on the Pier Carpark once it starts so there is a lot going on at the moment.”

Meanwhile, Helensburgh and Lomond Chamber of Commerce told the Advertiser it had often discussed the need for a review and finding a better way forward which encourages visitors to the town.

In a statement, the Chamber added: “The current enforcement regime appears to do precisely the opposite.

“The park an ride capability is reasonably well served by the upper level at the station and the seafront free parking.

“The two hours free in Sinclair Street car park is a good way of encouraging visitors. (Crieff town centre car park has a four hours free tariff). “The one-hour on street parking could readily be extended to two as a means of encouraging shoppers to do more than dash to Tesco and out again and the current loading bays could be used for private car provision on a timed basis.”