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Portpatrick Harbour Marina Plans

OWNERS of Portpatrick Harbour have applied for permission to form a 40-berth marina at the popular South Rhins village.

The application, from Portpatrick Harbour Limited, was received by the local planning office last week. In it the owners detail a plan for the inner harbour in which they would create 14 berths at 10 metres long, 14 at eight metres and 12 at six metres.

However, members of the local Portpatrick Harbour Trust, who plan a community buyout of the harbour, are not convinced of the motive behind the application. They suspect it may be a scheme to knock their plans off course.

The local trust are currently going through procedures to register their interest in the property with the Scottish Executive. The Land Reform Scotland Act would guarantee them the opportunity to make a bid for the property should it ever be the subject of a sale.

Chairman, Harry Harbottle, said the Trust had no idea that the current owners had made the application. He said:

"This doesn't surprise me in a way. The harbour has been the subject of two planning applications in the past - the first one lapsed and the second was thrown out.

"Whether this is just another scheme remains to be seen. But there is nothing there which concerns us.

"We will have to look at this first but there is nothing there which will stop us proceeding the way we plan to."