Councillors vote to close Perth Harbour as commercial port but would support "viable and serious offer" to lease

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Perth and Kinross councillors have voted to close Perth Harbour as a commercial port.However, council leader Grant Laing asked council officers to test the market for a “viable and serious offer” to lease the harbour but not to sell it.A Conservative amendment to keep the port open was outvoted by 22 votes to 14 with two abstentions.Councillors met on Wednesday, February 8 to decide the fate of the Fair City’s Harbour, which has fallen into rapid decline.Renowned Perthshire butcher Simon Howie, who co-owns Calport Ltd with his son Ross, said that despite his storage business being based there he was not informed about the outcome of PKC’s review of the harbour.Addressing councillors on Wednesday, Simon Howie said: “We were very surprised last Friday when we read in the newspapers that there was a motion to close Perth Harbour and that would be brought up at today’s meeting.“There are a number of people who pay their mortgages and feed their children from the income they receive working on the port and just closing it seems disproportionate.”Calport employs five people directly and 12 in total through sub-contractors.A comprehensive review of the harbour – requested by councillors –recommended closure as a commercial port and suggested exploring other options such as recreational use.In 2022/23 five vessels have so far landed goods at Perth compared with the 80 needed to match PKC’s business plan target and the 120 needed to break even.

There have not been 120 vessels since 2010.The current financial deficit is projected to be around £300,000.Mr Howie told councillors the port was “viable” and quashed the notion of leisure use as “fanciful”.