COUNCILLORS have approved the terms of a bid for major UK Government funding for Argyll and Bute - and it's been confirmed that Helensburgh and Lomond will miss out.

A bid to the Levelling Up Fund, due to be submitted next week, was rubber-stamped at a meeting of the full council on Thursday.

The bid will be made in two parts – a regeneration bid for projects in Rothesay and Dunoon, and a transportation bid for the area’s Whisky Islands and the North Lorn Economic Growth Zone.

If both parts are successful, up to £70 million could be awarded to the local authority.

A report produced before the meeting revealed that all the Helensburgh and Lomond projects which were initially suggested as part of the bid would be dropped from the final application.

Those early proposals included a bid for cash to bring the town's pier back into use for marine traffic for the first time since 2018, as well as for funds to create a dedicated cycle route stretching all the way from Dumbarton to Rosneath.

And the recommendation not to include the Helensburgh initiatives in the final bid led one of the town's newest councillors to register his disappointment as the terms of the bid were debated.

But Councillor Ian MacQuire (SNP, Helensburgh Central) was outnumbered by councillors who supported the bid in its final form, including his fellow Helensburgh and Lomond Councillor Maurice Corry, Argyll and Bute’s Provost.

Councillors had also been given guidance on the final terms of the bid at seminars which took place in advance of the council meeting.

Councillor MacQuire said: “I understand why the Helensburgh and Lomond elements have been removed, but as a Helensburgh Central councillor, I would like to state my disappointment that this has had to happen."

Prior to the meeting, and in response to a query from the Advertiser, another Helensburgh Central councillor, the authority's depute leader Gary Mulvaney, said that the business case for the pier "required more work" and that the pier's inclusion in the funding application "could potentially have put the entire Argyll and Bute bid at risk".

Councillor Liz McCabe (Independent, Isle of Bute), the area’s depute provost, had started the discussion at Thursday's meeting by saying: “A big thank you to the team for doing these bids. They are two fantastic bids and I appreciate all the hard work that has gone into them.”

Provost Corry then said: “I also endorse these points, and my thanks go to [executive director] Kirsty Flanagan and [head of economic development] Fergus Murray for the two seminars given to members.”

After Councillor MacQuire made his point, the authority's leader, Kintyre and the Islands councillor Robin Currie, also gave the bid his support.

He said in the online meeting: “These are ambitious bids, but they are absolutely essential projects if we want Argyll and Bute to move forward.

“Taking a local example of the Jura ferry, the number of people coming to Jura has risen considerably over the last 12 to 18 months.

“The present ferry is simply not fit for purpose, so it has to be replaced. We are not talking about ‘icing on the cake’ projects here – they are absolutely ‘bread and butter’ projects.

“I never tire of saying this, but every year, there is £600-700m going from Argyll and Bute to the Treasury. We are not even looking for a tenth of a year’s contribution here.

“If you are listening to this recording, UK Government, give us what we are asking for.”

The bid will finally be signed off by the two executive directors, plus the leader, depute leader and leader of the largest opposition group, by Wednesday, July 6.