Dear supporter

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement with our campaign to stop the supermarket on Helensburgh's waterfront.

The number of signatures to the petition continue to mount - we are a whisker away from 5000!

Together, we are putting local councillors under considerable pressure. Please keep sharing the petition with friends and family who haven't added their names yet.

Last week Helensburgh Community Council launched a judicial review at the Court of Session against Argyll and Bute Council's decision to develop a supermarket on our waterfront without genuine public consultation. 

Dr Peter Brown, Helensburgh Community Council's convenor, said: "It has been a difficult decision by Helensburgh Community Council to raise a judicial review against Argyll and Bute Council, and not one we have taken lightly.

"However, our mandate is to listen to the community of Helensburgh and advocate for its wishes. The community is clearly opposed to a supermarket development, yet, despite our best efforts over many months, Argyll and Bute Council has refused to listen".

Thank you to everyone who has already donated to Helensburgh Community Council's crowdfunder to meet the costs of this legal challenge. If you would like to, and are able to, you can donate to the crowdfunder here.

Feeling the pressure of this judicial review, six of our ten local councillors, all of whom voted in favour of the supermarket development previously, issued a statement saying, "We are not ignoring the groundswell of opinion from the people of Helensburgh and Lomond on the future of the Waterfront site in Helensburgh. Democracy is everything and at least 5,000 people have made their views absolutely clear".

The councillors who issued this statement are Mark Irvine, Fiona Howard, Ian McQuire, Shonny Paterson, Math Campbell-Sturgess and Paul Kennedy. Can they convince their party colleagues to stand with them and listen to the community?

The councillors who did not support this statement are Maurice Corrie, Graham Hardy, Gary Mulvaney and Gemma Penfold. Will they start listening to the community?

Argyll and Bute Council now has three weeks to decide how to respond to our legal challenge.

We strongly encourage all Argyll and Bute councillors to listen to the community of Helensburgh and surrounding areas, and pause the supermarket development to review this decision in the light of overwhelming public opposition.

Helensburgh Community Council has its regular monthly meeting this Thursday 7 - 9pm at the Civic Centre on East Clyde Street. As always, you are very welcome to join us to hear the latest developments and share your ideas.

We are getting there!

Best wishes,
Helensburgh Community Council