Two dozen sites earmarked for disposal in Argyll and Bute
GoogleTwo dozen sites owned by Argyll and Bute Council are earmarked for disposal between 2026 and 2028, including former schools and part of an existing school site.
The former annexe site at Hermitage Primary School in Helensburgh - which councillors previously pledged to fight against turning into housing - is on the list.
Also slated for disposal is the former Rothesay Academy and the old Ardchonnel, Minard and Kilchrenan primary schools. Luing primary in Oban, which is currently mothballed due to a lack of pupils, is included too.
The list comes as the authority proposes to spend a total of £3.7m on works at its Kilmory offices in Lochgilphead.
A report with details on the closures will go to the council's policy and resources committee on February 19, before the local authority sets its budget on 25 February.
An asset disposal usually lets the council sell or manage each asset as they see fit.
The Waterfront site in Helensburgh is also listed, with Forrest Group having been named as the preferred developer in 2024. The potential values of the sites are being kept confidential on the grounds of commercial sensitivity.
The document stated that there is a rolling three-year target for capital receipts from asset sales, forming part of the overall capital funding framework.
An updated asset sales target totalling £2.025m is now included in the current approved capital plan 2025-28.
At the most recent meeting of the council's Helensburgh and Lomond area committee in December, a councillor said he was not aware of any support for the Hermitage Primary annexe site to be dropped from the council's housing estate.
Conservative councillor Gary Mulvaney said: "The question then is what do we do with it, and that is a bigger question, because it requires some planning and budgets as well.
"But the key thing from this committee's point of view is to get a clear decision that we no longer see this land as housing surplus.
"It should be removed from surplus assets and we should ask officers to engage with the head teacher and others to see if there is a common view as to what the land should be used for in the long term."
Meanwhile the council said work was needed at its Kilmory headquarters to make the building comply with health and safety requirements and the Disability Discrimination Act.
