PLANS for an office and pub development on the edge of Helensburgh should be approved in principle, council chiefs say – in spite of concerns over flooding at the site.

The proposals by Pearson Property Promotions for the site at Iona Stables, next to the Morrisons supermarket on Cardross Road, are set to go before councillors next week – nearly a year after they were first formally submitted.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has lodged a formal objection to the plans because it says the plans for the site, opposite the Alder Gate development at Sawmill Field currently being built by Bellway Homes, could leave it liable to flooding.

A report by an Argyll and Bute Council planning officer says that planning permission in principle should be granted - but that any such recommendation should also be referred to Scottish ministers because of SEPA’s objection.

The report will go before the council’s planning, protective services and licensing (PPSL) committee at a virtual meeting on Wednesday, April 21.

READ MORE: Business park plans 'a good thing for Helensburgh' says property developer

The planning officer said: “The objection by SEPA on flooding grounds, as a statutory consultee, is a significant matter which has had to be carefully considered and weighted in the determination of this application.

“The council’s development policy advisors have carefully considered the proposals against both the policies of the adopted Local Development Plan [LDP] and the objectives of the plan. They have advised that the proposals can be supported and raise no objections.

“The increased flooding associated with the land raising will not cause harm to other users or land, and therefore the consequences associated with the development proposals do not, in officer opinion, outweigh the clear benefits associated with the promotion of this much needed business site.”

As well as office facilities and a family pub/restaurant, the outline application also seeks approval in principle for car parking facilities and a new junction on to the A814.

When the outline proposals for the site were first unveiled in January 2020, they also included plans for a 60-bedroom hotel.

But this element of the plan was later scrapped after Malcolm Pearson of Pearson Property Promotions said there was no demand for such a facility.

READ MORE: Plans for new 60-bed Helensburgh hotel alongside offices and pub are scrapped

SEPA said in their objection: “Given the proposed development would involve an increase in land use vulnerability, and will necessitate the requirement for engineering works within the functional floodplain, we do not consider that it meets with the requirements of Scottish planning policy.

“We have a shared duty with Scottish ministers and other responsible authorities under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 to reduce overall flood risk and promote sustainable flood risk management.

“The cornerstone of sustainable flood risk management is the avoidance of flood risk in the first instance. We recommend that alternative locations should be considered."

But the report for next week's committee meeting says the Helensburgh area has "no other allocated sites which would be suitable to meet this clearly identified need".