THE Helensburgh and District Civic Society has been studying the proposed Local Plan and is concerned about its trends. Among many other items of concern, are the planned housing allocations. We allow that the council is obliged to seek sites for as many new homes as required, over the next five years, with a view to the next 10 years, but the size and location of these allocations is at the least, questionable.

The allocations around Helensburgh (without regard to Rhu or any other near settlements) will allow 660 houses, which if we estimate four people per household, produce some 2,500 extra people. This represents a 18 per cent increase on the (2010) population of 13,660. But this is totally unrealistic, given the trend for falling population over the last 20 years. In 1991, Helensburgh had 15,748 people, so to project the need for many more houses flies in the face of evidence. There is some support for more homes, based on families splitting up and there being more single person families; but this is a small change and one which is socially driven that we cannot plan for securely Readers will imagine that other factors are behind the big new allocations, especially the pressure from builders and developers To reduce the allocations around the edge of Helensburgh (the golf course, the sites near the new school, and the Dobbies site, would have the added advantage of preserving the green belt, which has protected the town from urban sprawl in the past, and provided an attraction of open country close to town for those seeking fresh air and a lovely landscape.

A further important factor in the mix in a restriction of edge of town housing is to make it necessary for builders to seek more new building of flats and small houses in and around the town centre. Adventitious sites are always emerging from changes of land use over time, and many of these should be used for residential development. One aspect of the change of population over time is the expansion of the elderly; a projection from the General Register Office is that over 2015-2025, in Argyll and Bute, there will be a four per cent rise in those of pensionable age, while there will be 51 per cent rise in the over 75. What are the housing needs of this group? Not big houses on the edge of town but small units within easy reach of shops and services. We certainly need more people willing and able to use the shops in the centre, and from the appearance of our main shopping streets, they need a great need for a boost, just as in towns all over Britain.

We know that misalignment of planning with real needs is to be seen in the plans for Cardross, Rhu, and on the Rosneath peninsula, but Helensburgh is perhaps the prime example, and we can only hope for a rethink on these policies.

Professor Arthur Morris, for Helensburgh and District Civic Society