Our latest Councillor Column is written by Argyll and Bute Council's depute leader, and Helensburgh Central councillor, Gary Mulvaney.

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FIRSTLY, I want to say thank you to the people of Helensburgh Central who supported me during May’s local election campaign.

It’s a real honour and privilege to be re-elected as one of the councillors for Helensburgh Central, and whether you voted for me or not, I’ll do my best to help our area prosper and improve in the next five years.

Voters, in Helensburgh and elsewhere, often ask that their politicians work together, and in that spirit, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Independent councillors have come together to form a collective administration to lead the council. But again, whether my colleagues in the council chamber are part of that administration or not, I will work with everyone if they have good ideas.

With a near £7 million gap in the council’s projected budget for next year, and one of potentially £30m plus over the five-year term, as the SNP government slashes funds for local authorities, there will be no easy decision or choices for any councillor, so everyone’s ideas will be welcomed.

Waterfront: Progress continues apace on the Helensburgh waterfront development, with all the main works at the new leisure centre with all main works now complete.

There is some tiling to be finished, along with final commissioning of the mechanical and electrical items, and the team are working through the snagging items, with a practical completion date at the end of July.

That will allow Live Argyll to install their new equipment and complete their migration from the old pool, with a full public opening set for early September.

Pier: Next door to the new leisure centre, the council has allocated £255,000 to resurface and improve the lighting on the old masonry pier.

This will ensure that old pier merges seamlessly into the quality of the overall waterfront development. The council and community partners will continue to work on a long-term plan and business case for the pier.

“Anywhere, anyplace, anytime”: Much like the old Martini advert, whatever the time, place or situation, Nicola Sturgeon grabs ‘independence’ as her go-to aperitif of choice. No matter to her that families, communities, and businesses are recovering from Covid, that there is a European war happening, or that there is a global cost of living crisis.

No matter domestically, that education standards fall, health patients wait, the ferries fiasco continues, Nat rail fails, our growth is lower than England, and money is squandered on wildcat referendums. None of this matters to her. But it does matter to the vast majority of Scots – who simply want her to run Scotland, not wreck it.