A formal bid has yet to be made to shut Perth Harbour – 14 months after the decision to axe it.
The admission comes after it emerged Perth and Kinross Council is spending £7,000 a month on keeping the doomed harbour open to commercial traffic.
That’s despite just six boats using it in the 12 months to March this year.
Councillors were told last week the £84,000-a-year bill was down to a delay in obtaining Holyrood permission to go ahead with the closure.
But now Transport Scotland has told The Courier the council has yet to even begin the formal process.
A spokeperson said: “Transport Scotland has been in discussions with Perth Council officials regarding the requirements for Harbour Closure Orders.
“Once an application is formally submitted, notice will be advertised in local press and interested parties will have 42 days to consider making representations.
“All views will be fully considered before any decision on a Harbour Order application is made.”
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson confirmed that is the case.
“We have been liaising with Transport Scotland to progress to the mandatory 42-day public consultation on the closure of the harbour as soon as possible,” they added.
Perth Harbour: ‘financial wound that won’t stop bleeding’
Councillors voted to axe the harbour in February last year after hearing there was no longer sufficient demand for it.
Just six vessels used Perth Harbour between the decision to close it and March 31 2024.
However, the process has made slow progress.
The finance and resources committee was updated on the £84,000-a year cost of the delay last week.
Council leader Grant Laing said: “We’ve not been allowed to close it as yet.
“We have paid off the harbour master and depute harbour master and we’re having to employ them on an ad hoc basis at the moment.”
Director of economy, place and learning Alison Williams told the meeting the council had been in contact with Transport Scotland, and this was “chased up two weeks ago”.
The council says it is required to keep the harbour open to commercial traffic until a closure order is granted.
It must also ensure it remains compliant with the requirements of the Port Marine Safety Code.
Liberal Democrat Perth city centre councillor Peter Barrett branded the situation “ridiculous”, telling colleagues: “Perth Harbour is the financial wound that won’t stop bleeding.”
Perth Harbour glory days long gone
At the time of the closure decision, the harbour was estimated to support 54 jobs in Perth and Kinross and contribute £3.9m annually to the economy.
At its peak, in 1990, it managed more than 300 vessels per year.
However, this had plummeted to 21, leading to an operational deficit of £192,500 in the 2020-21 financial year.
In April 2021, officers put together a five-year business plan.
This calculated that 120 ships would be needed just to break even.
The 2023 report blamed external factors such as Covid-19, Brexit, the war in Ukraine, increased competition and market changes for the decline.
Conversation