Councillor Ian James MacQuire - Helensburgh Central ward

03/06/2026

This Saturday (6th June) the Helensburgh and Lomond Highland Games return to Helensburgh Cricket and Rugby Club from 10am until 5:30pm.

There are free return buses running throughout the day from Maitland St / East Princes to the Games site.

As Scottish as Shortbread, Tartan and Whiskey
The Helensburgh and Lomond Highland Games is a cherished annual celebration of traditional Scottish culture, sport and dance for all ages.

Come join us for a fun filled, family and dog-friendly, community-driven, day out.

Celebrating traditional Highland Games, Sport, Dance and Music.

Fun activities for all the family including various stalls, a climbing wall, the Helensburgh Clan Colquhoun Pipe Band, the local Helensburgh Rock Choir, beer tent area, bouncy castle/ slides, and much more.

Activities for spectators include;
Highland heavyweight events including the caber toss with some of the best games athletes in the World.
Highland dancing.
The official Opening ceremony is at 12pm
The Hill Run.
Primary School relays
Children's and adult open races.
Children's fun activites.

The Games are host to the following Royal Scottish Highland Games Championships;

200m Scottish Open Championship.
90m British Championship.
and the Scottish 22lb Shot Putt Championship.

01/06/2026

Roads updates for Helensburgh and Lomond.

This week the team has been resurfacing Pier Road in Rhu around the painted roundabout. This will be relined shortly

Scrub cutting works are being undertaken at a number of locations across Helensburgh and Lomond to improve visibility and safety. This includes sightline improvements at the Peace Camp cycle path crossing and at bus stops throughout the area.

A significant carriageway resurfacing scheme will commence next week on Golfhill Drive, Helensburgh. The capital-funded project will involve inlay resurfacing works and is expected to be on site for approximately two weeks. The investment will improve carriageway condition and extend the operational life of the carriageway.

Helensburgh Waterfront Public Convenience (toilets).
New roller shutters have now been installed at the Helensburgh Waterfront public conveniences as part of ongoing efforts to protect the facility from vandalism and reduce maintenance costs.
The installation has been completed and operational staff have been provided with the necessary training and access arrangements to support day-to-day operation of the facility.

27/05/2026

I would like to congratulate St Joseph's Primary School, Helensburgh Head Teacher Jenna McGlinchey, all of her staff and pupils on the school scoring a maximum of 400 in the annual Achievement in Curriculum for Excellence Levels publications, finishing top scoring Primary School in Argyll and Bute, and 9th overall in Scotland from 1,197 schools.
A great achievement.

A total of 1,197 primary schools provided data for the annual Achievement in Curriculum for Excellence Levels publications.

The Sunday Times report used data submitted by schools in each of the four categories to come up with a mark out of a maximum of 400

The schools were then placed in a league table according to how well they were performing.

In the area covered by Argyll & Bute Council a total of 11 primaries received at least 310 points - with St Joseph's earning full marks.

Here are all 11 of the top performing primary schools in Argyll & Bute.

St Joseph's Primary School, in Helensburgh, is the only Argyll & Bute to score the full 400 point across all four core education categories (numeracy, writing, reading and listening & talking) in the Sunday Times report.

1. St Joseph's Primary School
St Joseph's Primary School, in Helensburgh, is the only Argyll & Bute to score the full 400 point across all four core education categories in the Sunday Times report.
It means that the school came in 9th place across the whole of Scotland.

2. Hermitage Primary School
Also in Helensburgh, Hermitage Primary School is one of two Argyll & Bute primaries to score a near-perfect 390 points in the report - just dropping 10 marks in the writing category.

3. Rhu Primary School
Located in the village of the same name, Rhu Primary School also scored 390 points out of a maximum of 400 in the report - dropping 10 marks in the numeracy category.

4. Park Primary School
Park Primary School, in Oban, dropped 10 marks in each of the numeracy and writing categories to finish with 380 points in the report.

5. St Columba's Primary School
St Columba's Primary School, in Oban, also scored 380 points in the report. The school dropped 10 marks in each of the reading and writing categories.

6. Colgrain Primary School
Back to Helensburgh, where Colgrain Primary School scored a total of 370 out of 400 points - dropping 20 marks in the writing category and 10 marks in the reading category.

7. Cardross Primary School
Cardross Primary School dropped 10 marks in the numeracy category and 20 marks in the writing category to be awarded a total of 370 points in the report.

8. Kirn Primary School
Kirn Primary School, in Dunoon, scored 360 out of 400 points in the report - dropping 20 marks in the numeracy category and 10 marks in each of the reading and writing categories.

9. Castlehill Primary School
Castlehill Primary School, in Campbeltown, dropped 10 marks in the listening & talking and reading categories and 20 marks in the writing and numeracy categories to finish with a total of 340 points in the Sunday Times report.

10. Dalintober Primary School
Dalintober Primary School, in Campbeltown, was one of two Argyll & Bute primaries to score a total of 310 points in the report - dropping 30 marks in the numeracy and writing categories, 20 marks in the reading category and 10 marks in the listening & talking category.

11. Rockfield Primary School
Completing our list of the best performing primary schools in Argyll & Bute is Oban's Rockfield Primary School. The school scored 310 out of a possible 400 points in the report, dropping 30 marks in each of the numeracy and writing categories, 20 marks in the listening & talking category and 10 marks in the reading category.

26/05/2026

Argyll and Bute Council’s Supporting Communities Fund is currently open for applications - closing date is 23:59 on Sunday 5th July 2026.

Applications are welcome from not-for-profit community organisations, who meet the eligibility criteria, for up to £1,500 to support community projects across Argyll and Bute. The Supporting Communities Fund has supported community orchestras to environmental projects, community events, creative wellbeing programmes and resilience planning; helping turn ideas into positive action.
Funding is available for projects that support:

Fairer Communities – tackling poverty and widening access to opportunities
Resilient Communities – building local capacity and responding to community needs
Greener, Cleaner Communities – environmental projects and climate action
Creative Communities – using creativity to support health and wellbeing
Further details are available on the website: Supporting Communities Fund | Argyll and Bute Council. The council’s Community Development Officers can offer support and advice for groups who may wish to apply. The team can be contacted at [email protected], 01436 65881 for general enquiries, or by contacting the relevant area officer.

30/04/2026

13/04/2026

HELENSBURGH LEISURE CENTRE LATEST UPDATE
From Argyll & Bute Council.
Work continues to progress in repairing the damage done by Storm Eowyn to the Helensburgh leisure centre.

In essence:

NEXT STEPS
Phase 3 works will start Monday 13 April. This is likely to take 4 weeks, weather permitting.
Tenders for the internal fabric repair works have been received and are currently being evaluated by our Cost Managers. The tender for Mechanical and Electrical works (MEP) is due for return in the next 2 – 3 weeks.

WHO WILL PAY FOR THE REPAIRS AND WHO IS CARRYING THEM OUT?
The building is insured and we have been liaising with our loss adjustor and insurers throughout the process. We also have appointed specialist loss adjusters, who are part of the repair team.
We appointed hub North Scotland as the development partner for Helensburgh Leisure Centre, to manage and deliver the works to replace the centre’s roof and other repairs.

WHY IS IT TAKING THIS AMOUNT OF TIME TO REPAIR?
Given the scale of the damage, the repair programme has been highly complex. A bespoke scaffolding structure approximately 220 metres in length - equivalent to two full-size football pitches laid end to end—was required to enable safe access to the building. This structure had to be custom designed to accommodate the unique characteristics of the site, including spanning the flood defence rock armour.

WHEN WILL THE LEISURE CENTRE RE-OPEN?
At this stage, we cannot provide an alternative opening date as key survey and tendered work is still ongoing, but we are continuing to work with our insurer and contractors to do everything we can to re-open the centre as soon as possible. We will provide further information as soon as it is available.

01/04/2026

Scottish elections explained.
How to ensure a pro independence/anti British parliament is formed.
This is one of those questions where the answer depends on how the Scottish system actually works—because it’s not a simple “pick one party twice” situation.
First, the system (in plain terms)
Scottish Parliament elections use the Additional Member System (AMS):
Constituency vote (1st vote) → elects an MSP by simple majority (like Westminster)
Regional list vote (2nd vote) → used to balance things out proportionally across the region
There are 73 constituency seats and 56 regional seats.
The key tactical reality (important)
The system is designed so that:
If a party wins lots of constituency seats, it becomes harder for them to win regional seats.
This is done using something called the D'Hondt method, which reduces list seat chances for already successful parties.
Tactical voting for pro-independence voters
1. Constituency vote (1st vote)
This one is more straightforward:
In most areas → vote for Scottish National Party
Why:
They are usually the strongest pro-independence candidate
Winning constituencies is crucial for forming a government
👉 Exception:
If polling clearly shows another pro-indy candidate is stronger locally, then backing them could make sense—but this is rare.
2. Regional list vote (2nd vote)
This is where tactics come in.
The argument some people make:
“Don’t vote SNP twice, because they already win constituencies—your list vote is ‘wasted’.”
This has led to suggestions to vote for smaller pro-indy parties like:
Scottish Greens
Alba Party
But here’s the reality (balanced view)
Option A: Vote SNP on both votes
Pros:
Simple and safe
Maximises SNP dominance if support holds
Avoids risk of splitting the vote
Cons:
In regions where SNP dominate constituencies, they may win few or no list seats
Some votes may not translate into additional pro-indy MSPs
Option B: Split vote (SNP + another pro-indy party)
Typical tactic:
Constituency → SNP
List → Greens (or another pro-indy party)
Pros:
Can increase total pro-independence MSPs if executed well
Helps smaller parties cross thresholds
Cons (this is the big one):
If the smaller party fails to win seats, those votes are effectively lost
Can backfire and reduce total pro-indy representation
What actually happened last time (2021 election)
SNP dominated constituencies
Scottish Greens gained list seats
Alba Party got no seats, despite tactical arguments
👉 Meaning:
Voting Green helped pro-indy totals
Voting Alba (in that election) did not translate into representation
So what’s the most effective strategy?
If your goal is maximum pro-independence MSPs overall:
Safest strategy:
Constituency: SNP
List: SNP or Greens
Higher-risk tactical strategy:
Constituency: SNP
List: Greens (most viable second party)
Important reality check
There is no perfect tactical formula because:
It depends on region-specific results
It depends on whether smaller parties actually clear the threshold
It depends on vote distribution across Scotland
Straight answer (no fluff)
If you want:
Safety and certainty → vote SNP twice
Maximising pro-indy seats (with some risk) → SNP + Greens
If you want, I can break it down by your specific region (e.g., Glasgow, Lothian, Highlands) and show where tactical voting actually changes outcomes—that’s where this gets really interesting.

26/03/2026

I had a meeting with John Beveridge from the new Helensburgh Pier Group last Saturday (I thought I had already posted this) .

I started and Chaired for 5 years the Helensburgh Seafront Development Project (HSDP) Pier Group, but we couldn't get the backing of all of the then Councillors.
I also got the Pier listed to stop the council demolishing the wooden section of the Pier.

John is meeting the local Councillors to gauge their interest in saving the Pier.
The Pier Group obviously have my backing.

We discussed many things including the backing from The Waverley, the plans that the HSDP had, funding options, how to gain Helensburgh residents backing, and much more.
Hopefully the Pier Group will have / gain the backing of residents and visitors alike.

25/03/2026

On behalf of Argyll and Bute Council and the Outdoor Museum Design Panel, Lateral North will be holding drop-in sessions to invite ideas from local people for new designs for the Outdoor Museum.
The drop-in sessions will be held on:
Tuesday 31st March 2-5pm at Helensburgh Parish Church
Thursday 9th April 10am -2pm at the Helensburgh and Lomond Civic Centre
Saturday 11th April 10am – 4pm at the market in Colquhoun Square.