A report on the future of a north-east harbour’s night watchmen service will be presented to councillors next week.
The proposal to ditch the service at Macduff Harbour has been the subject of significant protests from local people since it was first announced earlier this year.
Local skipper John Clark even started a petition to convince the authority it would be a retrograde step to remove the provision and was supported by more than 1,000 people.
But the campaign could be delivered a hammer-blow on Thursday when Stephen Archer, the council’s director of infrastructure services, announces that income from ports across the region has plummeted recently.
Mr Archer, who will make the final decision on whether the service is removed from Macduff, has said – in his report to members of the infrastructure committee – that income from the council’s seven harbours has fallen by 30% since 2001 – from £316,000 to £217,000.
He has also branded the situation at Macduff “somewhat less positive”.
He said: “While the proposal does look to remove the night watch person service, this is not being done in isolation.
“As part of the proposals, more of the harbour service will be located at Macduff Harbour. In addition, the revision to roles and responsibilities has provided an opportunity to introduce a new rota.
“This will see a staff presence from 7am to 7.30pm, Monday to Friday and from 10am-3pm at weekends. In addition, there will be a formal standby system with a member of the team on call at all times.”
If the watchmen are removed, CCTV and electronic depth gauges could be deployed to replace them.
A risk assessment of the proposal has found that such a move would increase the likelihood of falls from height resulting in sprains, serious injuries and death.
Standby officers could take up to 30 minutes to respond to any emergency situation.