A pontoon structure at a picturesque Moray port faces being sealed off unless the council can devise a new funding plan.
It has been estimated that repairs to Findochty Harbour will cost more than £500,000. But Moray Council has only pledged a fifth of that total as it tries to reduce budgets across the board.
Harbour bosses had pinned their hopes on a bid to the Coastal Communities Fund to repair the pontoons, but their application was rejected.
Officers have explained they are pursuing other funding bids, but warned they were unlikely to be able to find the full £500,000 needed to foot the bill.
Buckie councillor Gordon McDonald now has grave concerns about the port’s future.
He said: “There hasn’t been any major money spent on them for about 15 years. They have just been deteriorating over that time.
“The pontoons aren’t fixed to the seabed, so they tend to smash into each other in storms as well as getting bumps from the boats that are tied up.
“The harbour can’t close, it’s considered a safe haven. The worst-case scenario is that the pontoons could be sealed off for safety. There are well over 80 boats there, it’s a big concern.”
Funding options for the village port will be discussed at the authority’s economic development and infrastructure committee meeting on Tuesday.
The harbour team now wants to spend the £107,000, set aside by the council, to make minor repairs to stretch the pontoons’ life-span by up to five years.
Mr McDonald added: “I know the officers are doing their best to scramble after some money. It makes it worse for the boat-owners, though, with the extra charges they are having to pay now – they are being asked to pay more for less.”
In a report prepared for Tuesday’s meeting, the council’s harbour operations manager, Duncan Brown, recommended “make do and mend” repairs are done to the pontoons.
He stated: “The major source of grant funding was hoped to be a Coastal Communities Fund application. This was not successful as the fund was significantly oversubscribed.
“While there are other grant sources, there is nothing which will provide the substantial contribution, in excess of £400,000, required to provide a replacement pontoon facility.”
