Appendix 2 - Timeline of Activity
Perth and Kinross Council · 28 May 2025
Back to Economy and Infrastructure Committee — 28 May 2025 and its agenda
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APPENDIX 2 Timeline of activity 8 February 2023 – Council chooses option 5 as preferred option for Perth Harbour. The cessation of involvement and obligations to manage the harbour as a commercial port. Council instructed Executive Director (Communities) to seek approval for a Harbour Revision Order. Also instructed that in recognition of the length of time this would take officers should test the market for interest in a potential long lease opportunity. 9 February 2023 – Transport Scotland informed of decision of Council. At that time, they indicated that the average timescale for a simple Harbour Revision Order being decided was six months. However, they advised that this was not guaranteed and recommended that officers sought legal advice on behalf of the Council. 20 February 2023 – meeting with Transport Scotland to discuss process and the impact of carrying out marketing for interest in long lease opportunity. Following the meeting agreed that while both processes could run in parallel the Harbour Revision Order process to close to commercial traffic could only start once the marketing process was completed. Transport Scotland also encouraged pre-consultation with key stakeholders ahead of the formal processes. Regular updates on progress against the timeline below provided to Transport Scotland throughout February to September 2023. 27 February 2023 – first meeting with specialist external legal advisors. Regular meetings have taken place since. A commercial traffic closure plan as well as a draft Harbour Revision Order were developed with the legal adviser, as well as a checklist for any parties interested in the long lease opportunity. 16 May 2023 – formal marketing of the long lease opportunity for the Harbour began. 18 May 2023 – 14-day pre-consultation launched with key stakeholders on both the Council’s intentions to promote a Harbour Revision Order to close commercial traffic and the long lease opportunity. One-to-one meetings were also organised with stakeholders such as the Northern Lighthouse Board. June 2023 – the draft commercial traffic closure plan, draft Harbour Revision Order and the results of the pre-consultation were shared with Transport Scotland to allow them to share with their own legal advisers for comment. 12 June 2023 – closing date for expressions of interest to be submitted for long lease of harbour. One expression of interest received, which was non-compliant. Bidder given the opportunity to submit a revised compliant bid by 30 June. 30 June 2023 – revised compliant bid received which was assessed against the requirements stated in the particulars. 30 August 2023 – in private session decision of Council to accept the bid with the exception of the sale of the Fair Maid tugboat at nil value. 8 September 2023 – bidder decided to stand aside from the process.
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12 September 2023 – request to Transport Scotland for a meeting to progress the draft Harbour Revision Order submitted in June 2023. Advised that they had not yet received legal advice and were unable to provide feedback. Several subsequent requests for a meeting made with the same result. 4 December 2023 – in light of no feedback being provided by Transport Scotland, decision made to progress by formal submission application for Harbour Revision Order. 7 December 2023 – Transport Scotland acknowledged formal submission but requested further information. 9 January 2024 – the requested further information was provided to Transport Scotland. 31 January 2024 – Transport Scotland advised that due to the many factors they needed to consider for this application and the fact they are currently experiencing a heavy workload, they were not in a position as yet to give full feedback. 5 March 2024 – David Littlejohn, Strategic Lead – Economy, Development and Planning wrote to the Interim Director of Transport Scotland to express concerns about the slow progress. Reply received indicated that Transport Scotland aim to work closely with all prospective applicants to ensure any final application and subsequent order is robust, both legally and from a policy perspective. It is also highlighted that they are currently dealing with an unprecedented number of Harbour Order applications and that these are being progressed as quickly as possible. 8 March 2024 – meeting took place with Transport Scotland to review information provided and to agree how to progress public consultation as soon as possible. Following the meeting updated information was provided. 4 April 2024 – Council provided additional information and submitted the latest version of the HRO with supporting documentation following requests from TS for further information. This latest iteration draws on valuable insights from Scottish Enterprise, emphasising their stance on the Harbour’s economic viability concerns. All requested information including updated risk assessment were included within the revised submission as requested. 15 May 2024 – Council completed amendments suggested by Transport Scotland on the public notice wording template and submitted. Transport Scotland confirmed that a formal letter with the list of stakeholders would be sent. 3 June 2024 –Transport Scotland apologised for not sending the formal letter and highlighted they were still working on the wording of the public notice. Transport Scotland then requested confirmation on land acquisition. Council confirmed this proposal did not involve the acquisition of any land. 20 June 2024 – A replacement tracked version of the public notice requiring further review is received from Transport Scotland. Solicitors from Council and Transport Scotland back and forth
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30 July 2024 – Council agreed with all amendments to the public notice wording. Awaiting confirmation to publish. 30 August 2024 – Letter from Cllr Laing writing to express our concerns regarding the uncertainty surrounding the timescale for processing our Harbour Revision Order application for Perth Harbour. 25 September 2024 – Following reminders, a response letter was received from Transport Scotland on 25th September. This letter highlighted the complexity of the process and that our application required a more detailed consideration. Transport Scotland needed to ensure that an Order is proportionate, achieves what it sets out to do, provides adequate opportunity for all those impacted by its aims to provide views and is best insulated from potential legal challenge once the Order has been established. Transport Scotland indicated that the pursuance of a Closure Order for a functioning harbour has not occurred previously in the UK, making this a more complex and novel request. Nonetheless, Transport Scotland indicated that they were now at the final stages of the pre-consultation stage for the proposed Closure Order and would initiate the formal 42-day consultation period as soon as possible. 25 October 2024 – Without warning, Transport Scotland sent an email requesting further information for Ministers/officials and interested stakeholders to be able to fully consider the merits of a Closure application. Council immediately sought a meeting to discuss the content of the email which took place on 6th November. 6 November 2024 - Session with Martin Ritchie (Head of Ports) and Nick Gosling (Head of Maritime Policy) from Transport Scotland and Council and Council’s legal advisers. Transport Scotland highlighted their concerns regarding the obligations being relinquished and bylaw powers to be retained. They reiterated the novelty of the request in the UK and certainly in Scotland as well as for their team. Council agreed to provide the additional information requested. Council stressed again the need to reach a conclusion. 2 December 2024 - With the support of our legal adviser, the current bylaw position and statutory duty position that supports all the harbour plans and mitigations to date has been finalised and sent to Transport Scotland and the Scottish Ministers for review. Along the information, a letter stating the serious concerns from Council elected members and Chief Executive about the uncertainty of the timescale for a decision and the financial pressures this imposes on the Council’s already challenging financial position. An offer of a direct contact between Council legal advisers and Transport Scotland legal advisers was also offered to avoid any further delays. 19 December 2024 – TS respond to our updated bylaw and statutory duty position that supports all the harbour plans, mitigations and questions to date. TS are seeking further detailed information on all statutory functions in respect of the harbour or specified statutory functions in respect of the harbour closure before publication and consultation. PKC set another meeting with TS to ascertain the specified statutory functions to be detailed.
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13 January 2025 - Confirmation of Border Control Post/ Designation Expansion – Perth. Application submitted on the 13 July 2021, to expand the Border Control Post (BCP) designation facilities at Perth. The information submitted contains evidence demonstrating that the current construction of the Border Control Post has met required criteria for the additional commodities to be authorised. Perth Harbour is designated as a border control post for the purpose of performing official controls on the commodities as of the 13 January 2025 for the following commodities: • Product of Animal Origin (POA) Not of Human Consumption – Bulk Fishmeal 21 January 2025 – Legal team and officer discussion around the obstacles on the alternate legal basis for PKC to monitor use of the harbour and how TS have been requiring yet further detailed information. This risk assessment on legislative change will be the first in Scotland and the new statutory provision is proving time consuming and challenging to progress. Reframing the order to retain some duties as the Statutory Harbour Authority was discussed and decided to be explored as a proposal to take HRO to TS to solve the gridlock. 5 February 2025 – After further discussion with legal support, TS hosted a session outlining their concerns around safety and their current challenges. The HRO would be a more straightforward method for order processing, alleviating several concerns, particularly regarding health and safety risks. Using the same process as current HRO, we agreed to submitting with SHA H&S obligations and will not require SG to approve something unique. Powers will be retained by PKC as SHA, no requirement to change bylaws that would have required further legal work and additional ministerial approval. A statement by the Strategic Lead (Economy, Development & Planning) was made at the Finance & Resources Committee meeting informing members of difficulty and complexity of the process and recommended to explore this new option. 30 March 2025 - Operations update includes repair of ISPS fence (International Ship and Port Facility Security Code) and the contract for OPRC (Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation). Updates to the Safety Management System (SMS) from the Full Compliance Audit Report issued October 2025. There was an import and export of Fishmeal by the Ceg Galaxy. At the beginning of the month, a capital dredge application was submitted to Marine Scotland on behalf of Calport for a license. 15 April 2025 - Transport Scotland and the relevant legal teams reviewing update HRO submission pre consultation. Operations updates include the midterm PMSC (Port Marine Security Code) during April. The ISPS Audit will start with evidence gathering in April and the report is expected in May.