HOPES of breathing new life into Helensburgh’s disused pier have been dealt a major blow after experts said a berthing facility at the structure would not be commercially viable.
A new report says it could cost up to £3 million to get the pier – which has been closed to all marine traffic for more than five years – into a condition where it could be used again.
Experts say it is “challenging to see how such a facility could be operated on a revenue neutral basis, particularly where long-term capital replacement has to be accounted for”.
And Argyll and Bute Council – which owns the pier – is now set to consider trying to offload the structure by opening talks on a potential community asset transfer.
The idea of a berthing facility in the centre of Helensburgh was raised by Helensburgh Community Council (HCC) earlier this year.
But the new report deals a major blow to those aspirations.
The HCC idea was drawn up after Argyll and Bute Council removed the idea of using the pier as a transport hub from a planned bid for major UK Government funding.
It had been hoped that a new berthing facility – using pontoons linked to the stone section of the pier – could provide a place for small cruise ships and other private craft to dock, providing a gateway to the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, and might open the door to the return of a cross-Clyde ferry service to Helensburgh for the first time since 2012.
The idea of using the new facility to transport military and civilian personnel between Helensburgh and HMNB Clyde, taking traffic off the A814, was also mooted.
But the report’s authors say they have identified limited or no demand for those potential uses – and the council itself says the MoD has ruled out the possibility of a ferry link between the town and the base.
The ‘market scoping study’ report was commissioned by Argyll and Bute Council in May and carried out by Stantec UK and Mott MacDonald.
They identified four options for bringing the pier back to a condition where it could be used by marine traffic – with costs likely to range from £517,500 to remove the damaged timber section at the pier’s southern end and make good what remains, to more than £3m to remove the damaged section, repair and upgrade the timber pierhead for re-use, and carry out dredging work.
It also says that according to the council, a berthing facility would cost around £100,000 a year to maintain – not including capital replacement costs or money to repair any damage.
The report states: “The provision of a restored berth or entirely new pontoon facility is significantly more expensive, in capital and operational terms, than options focused on tidying up the current pier only.
“Given the above, and the scale of capital costs required to develop a new operational berth, it is unlikely that a commercially viable facility could be delivered at present.”
The report does, however, say that the case for investing in the pier “should be considered further, with a view to improving its appearance, matching it with the high quality public realm in its immediate vicinity”.
The report says that the low demand for a cross-Clyde ferry service and likely large subsidy “makes this a long-term proposition at best”.
It also states that the “security, operational and funding challenges of establishing and operating a ferry service between Helensburgh and HMNB Clyde, when combined with the limited benefits, means that this is not a realistic proposition”.
A Clyde ‘waterbus’ service was also examined, but the consultants decided it “cannot be considered to support the case for a new berthing facility” at the pier.
The study did find there would be a potential market for cruise ships to call at Helensburgh, “albeit a small one”, and that “this demand in itself would not sustain a restored berth at Helensburgh, but would be a valuable source of revenue to complement other activities”
Stantec UK and Mott MacDonald spoke to 15 stakeholders, including Destination Helensburgh, the naval base, the National Park and Waverley Excursions, for the new report.
Their findings will be considered by Argyll and Bute Council’s environment, development and infrastructure committee on Thursday, November 30.
Councillors on the committee will be asked to “accept the consultants’ findings, particularly that a berthing facility at Helensburgh pier cannot be operated on a revenue neutral basis, particularly where long-term capital replacement costs are accounted for, and that officers will no longer devote resources to pursuing a council funded berthing facility”.
The committee will also be asked to “agree that the head of development and economic growth engages with Helensburgh Community Council and any other appropriate community group(s) who may express a wish to pursue options, including a potential asset transfer of Helensburgh wooden pier”.
Prior to its closure to all marine traffic in October 2018 on safety grounds, the pier’s only regular visitor had been the paddle steamer Waverley – whose operators were not charged berthing dues because of their charitable status and in recognition of the economic benefits of the Waverley’s visits.
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