Town Infrastructure - Other green aspects

A plan should be formulated for their management, protection and enhancement. For example:

1. The entry points to Helensburgh i.e. the main roads, especially those to the North and East of the town and rail (principally to Helensburgh Central station), need improving. Currently they are scrappy, unwelcoming and a disgrace.
2. The Helensburgh & District Access Forum’s paths network should be completed. Linking Helensburgh to the National Park by more than the current route through Glen Fruin should be a priority.
3. The area from Ardmore Point westward should include all-weather footpaths, improved sign posting, the planting of appropriate native species and the elimination of undesirable “foreign”species.

INITIATIVES

• An area around each entry point to the town should be designated in the Local Plan for landscaping and improvement. HIP
• Need - Helensburgh, as a tourist destination, will benefit from attractive approaches.
• Benefit - the community at large, but more particularly those involved with any aspect of tourism.
• Involvement - Argyll and Bute Council, the various landowners and relevant interest groups.
• The whole of the planned path network of the Helensburgh and District Access Forum should be recorded on the Local Plan.
• Need - to avoid its being lost from sight and its subsequent degradation by ignorance or deliberate design.
• Benefit - the environment, landowners and the community.
• Involvement - Argyll and Bute Council, the various land owners and relevant interest groups.
• The present Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) should be managed, protected and enhanced.
• Need - without a management plan the system is liable to degrade under pressure.
• Benefit - avoidance of degradation of the environment.
• Involvement - Argyll and Bute Council, the various landowners and relevant interest groups.
• A strategy formulated to indicate the existing local biodiversity and how it may be managed, protected and enhanced.
• Need - without a management plan, the system is liable to degrade under pressure. Biodiversity is at its most accessible and vulnerable on the fringes of urban areas.
• Benefit - the environment and the community.
• Involvement - Argyll and Bute Council, landowners and relevant interest groups.
  

N.B. In the document, Initiatives that can be achieved fairly quickly are marked “-qw” (quickwin)

"To turn the vision into reality is a very big job, but it is well worth doing. We need to stop the neglect of Helensburgh, turn it around and put it on the road to excellence."

The Helensburgh Vision Steering Group