February 7 2024

A dangerous building in Helensburgh town centre is to be demolished in the wake of a 2016 structural failure which forced the evacuation of a neighbouring property.

With a dangerous building notice hanging over the site, buyers have been reluctant to come forward, with numerous road closures affecting the site in the meantime during high winds.

To resolve the situation it is proposed to force partial demolition of a tenement at 5-7 East Clyde Street, currently shored up by emergency scaffolding, to permit progress on a refreshed 2015 application for seven apartments on an adjacent site.

In a planning update, Puregreenspace wrote: "The general massing of the footprint copies almost exactly the existing footprint. However, in terms of its general design merits, the existing building does not add a great deal to the sea-front and replacing it is an opportunity to tie into the proportions of the adjacent tenement, which in turn resonates with the Victorian proportions of numerous buildings on the Helensburgh esplanade.

"The proposed design will therefore tie in with the two main string courses of the adjacent building thus keeping the scale of the basecourse and upper floors appropriate to the street."

Updated plans show the removal of a fifth floor to negate the need for lift access and the replacement of a ground floor flat with a commercial unit. The number of apartments remains the same by downsizing two-bedroom properties to one. 

2 Comments

#1 Posted by Jean Macaulay on 7 Feb 2024 at 23:33 PM

How do other neglected buildings get the same consideration with grants?

#2 Posted by devilish advocaat on 8 Feb 2024 at 10:17 AM

Would be better if the roof pitches matched.

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