Although the white Volkswagen will be a familiar sight to those passing by East King Street Park, few would imagine that it could draw the attention of Historic Scotland for a potentially “listed” status.
It’s a title you’d normally think befitting of historic landmarks in the Helensburgh area such as The Hill House, the Clock Tower, or that spider climbing frame at Kidston Park. Yet, once consultation has been completed, the vehicle could become an even more permanent fixture on East King Street, potentially driving tourism to the area.
“We believe the article in question is a Volkswagen T25 Holdsworth Villa Mark 3 in the highly sought-after ‘Hightop Roof’ specification.” A spokesman for Historic Scotland told us, excitedly. “As yet, we haven’t scheduled a site visit but from what we’ve been told it’s a superb example of 1980s German design with an unusual registration plate and supporting several important colonies of lichen and algae. Even the rust is of a calibre rarely seen in any roadworthy vehicle. First thing’s first though – it needs to be classified as a building rather than a vehicle for us to proceed.”
That particular issue might not be as big an obstacle as first thought. Whilst investigating this story our reporter learned from a source in the planning department that the reclassification of the camper van as a building is at an advanced stage.
The source revealed that “The area has a fine tradition of decayed listed buildings. St Peter’s Seminary at Cardross, for example, being an iconic landmark. The question the planning department is deliberating is what has to come first? It being a building or it being dilapidated? In this case, it’s dilapidated enough that it could potentially be classed as a structure rather than a vehicle.”
However, when we spoke to neighbours adjacent to the site we discovered that not all will be in favour of the Volkswagen Holdsworth being in place any longer than it already has. Neighbours, who did not wish to be named, branded it “an eyesore” and a cause of traffic bottlenecks at busy times.
We’ll keep you updated as this multifaceted story unfolds.
