The Trust, originating from the former Portgordon Community Harbour Group, acts as an umbrella organisation for local groups and has bold plans which will see the community take ownership of the local harbour, a key part of the identity and regeneration of Portgordon, while also creating a community hub. Portgordon harbour is currently owned by Crown Estate Scotland, the public body responsible for managing Scottish Crown Estate assets.

The historic stone harbour was officially closed in 1947 and there have been a series of feasibility studies and proposals over the last 20 years expressing a collective desire to find a solution to securing the harbour structure in the long-term. These have included a feasibility study in 2005 on the potential to develop a marina facility and a 2011 study to locate a new village hall on land adjacent to the harbour.

Past offers of transfer of the harbour to the community have foundered due to concerns over the liabilities for maintaining the infrastructure; as is often the case with small trust ports the key challenges have been volunteer capacity, revenues to support operations and access to finance for infrastructure work.

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Approach:

Building on previous work and local engagement by the Community Harbour Group, Moray Council supported a Planning for Real exercise in 2017 to help clarify and distil community aspirations. Following an unsuccessful application under Crown Estate Scotland’s Local Management Pilot Scheme in 2019 to take on management of the harbour, Crown Estate Scotland provided contractor assistance to support community capacity for future governance and to further investigate options and recommendations.

Since 2021, asset transfer of the harbour estate to community ownership has been progressing well. An MoU has been signed between Crown Estate Scotland and Portgordon Community Trust outlining how the organisations work together towards a shared vision. Crown Estate Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise are co-funding a Development Officer for two years to help drive forward the asset transfer, source funding, and further develop the Trust’s action plan.

A key milestone was the purchase of a former pub opposite the harbour by Crown Estate Scotland as part of a funding package committed to helping facilitate community ownership. It is the aspiration that this be transferred along with other harbour assets to the community by the end of 2023, enabling a more economically resilient model for ownership. The community hub will generate income for the Trust through a café and visitor accommodation and will also act as a base for local services and groups – a key priority identified during previous fact-finding surveys.

Formalising commitments through an MoU was an important step in agreeing joint aims and a way forward. This included establishing regular meetings of a Harbour Management Advisory Group as a platform for information sharing and discussion between PCT, CES, Moray Council, HIE. This allowed the group to agree on a programme for repair works to the harbour, and importantly for the community to provide a steer in terms of local priorities and insights.

Recruitment of a Development Officer was also crucial in helping to turn the Trust’s vision into a reality for the community. The Trust is a key anchor locally and has many projects and plans which will benefit people living, working and visiting the area, however as a volunteer-led organisation, capacity is an issue so having a dedicated staff resource is important.

How we are moving forward

Harbour Update 

In September 2023 Portgordon Community Trust Ltd started the process of recruiting a Consultant to carry out an updated feasibility study, business plan and options appraisal on the future of the harbour.

Tender documents were issued to a number of Consultants on 26 September, with a tender submission date of 23 October. Tenders will then be assessed and scored and a preferred bidder identified. At the same time a bid for funding the study will be prepared and submitted to the Scottish Land Fund by the end of October.  It is hoped that the outcome of the funding bid will be known by the end of November and, if successful, a contract to the preferred Consultant can then be awarded in early December with the study commencing in mid December.  

Included in the study will be a review of the harbour’s structural integrity, an updated market assessment of the demand for harbour facilities, a review of the regulatory requirements of running a harbour, a review of the financial viability of the harbour, further consultation with the community, and an examination into the alternative options for the future use of the harbour and it’s management and operation.  The appointed Consultants will work closely with PCT and Crown Estate Scotland on the study.

The detailed study will take around 7 months to complete, after which Portgordon Community Trust will take the findings and their recommendations to the wider community to ascertain the community’s preference(s), before discussing further with the harbour owners, Crown Estate Scotland. 

After successfully receiving funding from The National Lottery Scottish Land Fund, the Trust were delighted to appoint MKA Economics to carry out these works and have submitted the following schedule for the detailed study. For more information, see our latest news article here.