While railways are an attractive proposition, in terms of the fuel required to move a tonne of goods over a mile, waterways – at something rather less than a quarter of the fuel requirement when compared with a road-going lorry – clearly need to be given greater prominence. Of course it goes without saying that a quarter of the fuel consumed means a quarter of the harmful, global-warming emissions produced – far less where biofuels such as HVO are employed.

Meanwhile, what exactly is going on in the chambers of Perth and Kinross Council? And why do politicians – both local and national – struggle to acknowledge the unassailable environmental benefits of waterways freight?

I’ll not attempt an answer to the second question (although the current reality beggars belief) but clearly the Council are up against a problem, whether that be of their own making or otherwise. The Perth Harbour Business Plan published at the end of January, although a very comprehensive document, makes somewhat sorry reading, identifying a catalogue of costs and liabilities that, with current levels of freight traffic, are light years away from being met.

In essence, Perth is an inland port, not dissimilar to Howden on the River Ouse, capable of handling ships up to 90 metres in length with a 2,500 tonne capacity. At its peak in 1990, more than 300 vessels used the port. Access is restricted locally by a sand bar that builds across the harbour entrance and by the dredged depth of the approach via the River Tay, which is in turn restricted by pipelines laid under its bed.

[Photo: Perth Harbour – empty, by Jonathan Mosse]

Modal shift, as a government-funded initiative, is actually designed to work in the opposite direction, getting freight off the roads and onto railways and waterways! At no point has anyone considered sustainability and how the River Tay, in conjunction with Perth Harbour, could be developed in a bid to combat global warming.

Coasters, capable of penetrating as far inland as Perth Harbour, are steadily becoming a thing of the past, giving way to a combination of large vessels discharging at deep-sea ports in conjunction with tugs and barges completing the final leg, Thames-style.

A successful formula is to major on bulk aggregates, throw in a concrete batching plant and suddenly one has the basis of a workable blueprint for survival … and the rationale behind this feature finding its way into an inland waterways freight article!

[The text for this article first appeared in Towpath Talk April 2023 and is reproduced here by kind permission of the editor]

[Photo: Perth and Kinross Council employ Calmac as the Competent Harbour Authority at a substantial fixed cost regardless of shipping traffic; photo by Jonathan Mosse]