Signs welcoming visitors to Helensburgh removed with council chiefs unaware why

07.12.2022 - 13:17 / dailyrecord.co.uk

Confusion reigns over the removal of signs welcoming visitors to Helensburgh - with council chiefs unaware of their staff having done so.

The town’s community council has also denied having removed the maroon signage at various points of Helensburgh, which have been earmarked for replacement.

One of the town’s ward councillors questioned an Argyll and Bute Council official after discussion on social media about the removal of the signs.

The discussion took place at a meeting of the authority’s environment, development and infrastructure committee on Thursday, December 1.

Helensburgh Central SNP Councillor Ian MacQuire said: “I was asked by a couple of constituents yesterday if it is the council who have taken away the ‘Welcome to Helensburgh’ signs.

“There are a few which they have seen, in three or four locations. The community council has said it is not them doing it. Is it council staff who have taken the signs down?”

Jim Smith, the council’s head of amenity services, responded: “I am not aware of having done that, but I can certainly check. It is not something we would ordinarily do.”

Members of Helensburgh Community Council (HCC) approved designs for new signs to welcome visitors to the town in March 2021, but said at the time that no new signs would be put up until the money had been raised to pay for them.

The removal of the sign at the west end of the town, on Gareloch Road near the junction with Rhu Road Higher, was raised on social media earlier this week, with one local resident, Fiona Baker, asking if anyone knew whether the sign had been taken away for a refresh or a replacement.

In response to Ms Baker’s query, HCC secretary Sarah Davies said the sign’s removal was “nothing to do with us” and that the matter had not