Council bosses believe they’ve made a breakthrough in their long and costly battle to shut Perth Harbour.
Officials want to press ahead with a plan to close the loss-making harbour to commercial traffic – but to keep it open for recreational use.
It follows two years of wrangling between Perth and Kinross Council and Transport Scotland.
The cost of keeping the harbour open in the meantime has been put at £7,000 a month.
That amounts to £168,000 over the two years since the closure vote in February 2023.
The council’s strategic lead for economy, development and planning Serge Merone unveiled the latest bid to beat the impasse at a meeting this week.
He said the process of progressing a harbour order to completely remove the responsibilities of the council as statutory harbour authority for Perth had proven “difficult and complex”.
But he went on: “We believe it will be simpler and quicker for the council to remain the statutory harbour authority for Perth Harbour, retaining only essential responsibilities to allow for recreational use.
“And this is the solution we are proposing now.”
Mr Merone said he and colleagues would go back to Transport Scotland with this compromise.
The aim then would be to move to a public consultation “as quickly as possible”.
Can Perth Harbour’s fortunes be revived?
Councillors voted to axe Perth harbour after hearing it had become a drain on resources.
At its peak, in 1990, it managed more than 300 vessels per year.
By the time of the closure vote, this had plummeted to 21.
The decline in business meant it made a loss of £192,500 in the 2020-21 financial year.
However, ideas for how the harbour might be used in the future emerged in a new blueprint late last year.
The draft Perth City Centre Development and Design Framework envisages a new Harbour Quarter.
This could open the area up to locals and visitors, with attractions such as a museum, a marina and a “waterside promenade” public space.
New harbour running costs ‘likely to be lower’
Transport Scotland said it had nothing to add at this stage.
But following Wednesday’s finance and resources committee meeting, a Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson told The Courier: “As agreed, the council still intends to cease commercial traffic at Perth Harbour but maintain its essential responsibilities as the statutory harbour authority for recreational uses.
“This will involve drafting a simpler Harbour Revision Order, which will be subject to public consultation.
“If finalised, the council will still incur costs to fulfil these essential responsibilities, although these costs are expected to be lower than current expenses.
“However, the exact amount of these reduced costs has not yet been estimated.”
Conversation