Water taxi service shelved amid worries over harbour costs

Preparing Fife harbours for a water taxi service would run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Councillors on the south and west Fife area committee were told if the service was to call at the village of Aberdour, for example, it could cost between £120,000 and £180,000 to provide fit-for-purpose access for passengers.

Plans for a water taxi on the Forth have been shelved for now after a feasibility study commissioned by Fife Council concluded there was little scope for the service.

Limited access because of tide times, the cost of providing safe passenger access and lack of tourism infrastructure were among the obstacles to moving the project forward.

Committee convener SNP councillor Alice McGarry said: “Unfortunately, without substantial investment it seems there is currently little scope to develop a water taxi service along the south west Fife coast.

“The natural hurdles presented by the difficulty of access at low tide and the lack of infrastructure currently in place, means this would not be a straightforward exercise.

“Should a collaborative approach be developed in the future to greatly increase tourism to the area, there could be an opportunity for a private sector operator to look again at the service.”

The committee agreed last year to investigate the feasibility of a water taxi. The idea was to link villages along the Fife coast and possibly locations on the south coast of the Forth.

Primarily, Kincardine, Culross, Limekilns, Rosyth, North Queensferry and Aberdour would be connected to spread tourism and reduce congestion.