The Highland Council submitted a £50 million bid to the UK’s Levelling Up Fund in late 2022 with a view to securing transformational investment in Portree Harbour. Unfortunately the bid was rejected and the Highland Council have confirmed that the project will not be resubmitted for the next round of funding.
There has however been a commitment of capital investment in Portree harbour made by The Highland Council for 2024 onwards. The total amount has yet to be confirmed however it may be in excess of £1 million. This investment will address the most urgent maintenance requirements.
Thank you to everyone in the community who submitted letters of support for the Levelling Up Fund bid. The trust are disappointed that this bid was not successful however believe that the long-term vision for the harbour still needs to be realised in order to address the following issues:
- Deterioration of the pier and primative faciliities for our fishing fleet and visiting boats.
- Perestrain, cars, PSV’s and articulated HGV’s share confined space.
- Minimal facilities for local and visiting leisure craft and no overnight pontoons.
- Absence of all-tides launching and recovery slips or dockside lifeboat access.
- Abject lack of any adaptation for high volume cruise ship passenger transfer.
- Lack of space for future mixed-use development to service increased footfall.
- Exposure to prevailing winds.
The masterplan developed during the process of the bid is available to view by clicking on the link. The photomontage demonstrating the vision for the future of the harbour can be seen below:
If you would like to work with the trust to help further develop plans for the harbour area please get in touch.