LAND in Arrochar which was previously used as a Royal Navy torpedo range has gone on the market.

The Loch Long site, which has lain derelict for decades, was previously the subject of a bid by the Ben Arthur Development Company for a five-star resort including a 130-bedroom hotel with 16 residential units and 36 apartments.

Those 2012 plans also proposed a chandlery, a helipad, a 100-berth marina and a refurbished pier facility.

Planning consent has since lapsed, but the sales listing on commercial property website Realla states that there “remains strong support for the site to be redeveloped”.

READ MORE: Five-star hotel planned for torpedo range

According to the Helensburgh Heritage Trust website the Loch Long torpedo range was operational from 1912 to 1986, and the abandoned Admiralty buildings, pier and slipway remained visible on the west shore of the loch until 2007, when the site was destroyed by fire and demolished.

The facility was built to support the manufacture and testing of torpedoes produced in Greenock and Alexandria, and in 1944, at the height of its activity, more than 12,500 torpedoes were test-fired down Loch Long – an average of 48 per day.

Three years ago Argyll and Bute Council officials said there was “significant need to make a concerted effort to try and stimulate the redevelopment potential of the site, with a longer term view to seeing the area improved and the wider economic growth potential boosted”.

The local authority’s then director of development and infrastructure services, Pippa Milne, said in a report at the time: “Discussions with the owner of the Ben Arthur development site and potential developers have taken place to consider ways of addressing the issues of dereliction, with a view to finding a productive economic function for the site given its prominent location on the A83.

READ MORE: Old torpedo site 'should be Arrochar economic focus'

“The complex site has a number of constraints to overcome and a multi-agency response will be required to bring forward a positive solution that addresses the environmental dereliction and has the potential to provide a source of employment for the area.

“Through adopting a collaborative approach, this specific area of work is considered to be the area of Arrochar at this point in time where projects and regeneration development officer resource would most usefully be directed.”

The former torpedo range is one of three sites listed for sale together by EGM Property Consultants; the other two are a car park at the head of Loch Long, previously leased to Argyll and Bute Council, and nearly 20 acres between the A83 and Glen Loinn Road in Succoth.

The listing states that offers will be considered for the sites in whole or part; for more information visit realla.co.uk.

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