CONVENER of Helensburgh Community Council, Norman Muir, writes in this week's community column.

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Despite modern communication methods and the prevalence of social media, on many issues the public still is not fully informed about issues of importance to Helensburgh.

That lack of information leads to cynicism that individual views have not been taken into consideration.

A common strand in the number of studies and research projects we face inevitably involves public consultation as a mandatory requirement. Sometimes this seems more a ‘tick box’ exercise than a genuine desire to gain information, and once the consultation is finished, we receive no feedback on the final reports.

The community council has been considering how best to improve this situation. We are to examine the possibility of running information briefings on subjects of interest to the town, and we would file a synopsis of the proceedings on our website for those unable to attend.

Another avenue of communication and engagement is in our constitution, which states that “should the community council receive a written request (petition) signed by at least 20 persons resident within the community council area, we are required to convene a special meeting for the particular matter or matters to be considered, within 14 days of receipt”.

Our monthly meetings are held in public and open to public participation throughout the year. Our next meeting is on April 25. You can also raise issues with us via our website (helensburghcommunitycouncil.co.uk).

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Our first beach clean of the season will take place on Saturday, April 6, starting at 10am. We will meet up at the pier. We hope to welcome back all our volunteers and youth forum who did so well last year.

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We gave the shrub beds in Colquhoun Square a spring weeding last weekend and all the signs are that we should expect a fine display of colour and variety this year.

Again, we rely entirely on the goodwill and volunteer spirit of the community who support us and we remain grateful for all their efforts.