Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Price increases at Moray harbours opposed as council looks to balance the books

Councillor Gordon McDonald at Buckie harbour.
Councillor Gordon McDonald at Buckie harbour.

Moray councillors have argued over the introduction of steep price increases at the region’s harbours.

Figures presented at yesterday’s economic, development and infrastructure committee showed the cost of a pontoon berth had more than doubled.

A consultation is being run by the council about the increases, but SNP Buckie councillor Gordon McDonald asked for the changes to be phased.

He said: “There’s no way I could possibly support an increase of 110%. That’s an unbelievable increase.

“There’s nowhere near anything like that anywhere else in the council. These are small boat people, not the flashy yachts with the varnish and all the rest of it. They are not that kind of people.

“I remember the charges were increased by 20% five years ago and all hell broke lose.”

Under the proposals, the minimum charge for a pontoon berth would jump to £500. At the moment, boat owners pay £238 for vessels up to five metres long, then an extra £40 per metre.

Moray councillors have already agreed that the region’s harbour’s must at least break even in the future.

Independent Heldon and Laich councillor Dennis Slater argued boat owners should expect some return for the extra charges.

He said: “The pontoons at Hopeman are crumbling and I think there could possibly be a health and safety risk. I’m sure we don’t want to go down that line.

“There is no electricity at the harbour, no running water, no security and I think these are things we must take into consideration.”

During yesterday’s meeting, councillors agreed to include different options in the consultation to avoid a perception the hike was a “done deal”.

Proposed prices for an eight-metre boat showed Moray Council would still be cheaper than Aberdeenshire, Inverness, Lossiemouth and Arbroath but more expensive than the Highlands.

Heldon and Laich councillor Allan Wright said: “I would urge members to live in the real world. The main issue is that harbours need to be moving quickly to a sustainable future.

“That may be a bitter pill for the boat users but that is a fact.”