A Dundee business leader said a tram project for the city centre should only proceed if it passes a detailed cost and benefit analysis.
Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce chief executive Sandra Burke was commenting on a proposal by consultancy firm Light Rail (UK) and lobbyist Jim Harkins for a “pedestrian circular” tram route taking in High Street and the waterfront’s southern boulevard.
It would serve attractions such as the V&A, and Mr Harkins said the first phase of the scheme could be delivered for about £20m without major disruption.
It could then be extended towards the harbour and to Dundee University and even as far as the airport to serve Dundonians as well as visitors.
Council director of city development Mike Galloway has emphatically rejected the idea and instead hailed the city’s “first class” bus system which is being further improved with hybrid electric vehicles.
He said the central waterfront infrastructure works are nearing completion and new streets and boulevards are beginning to emerge.
This represented a substantial level of investment from the council and its project partner, Scottish Enterprise, which has been planned and implemented over the past decade and does not include light rail or tram provision.
The recent experience of new urban tram systems has not been good with the controversial Edinburgh project running three years late and more than doubling in cost to £1bn.
Ms Burke said it was wrong and unfair to compare Edinburgh with the Dundee proposal, which was not something which the chamber had discussed or been consulted on.
“It is symptomatic of the positivity that surrounds the waterfront in that people are starting to think about what could happen and a lot of ideas and suggestions are coming out of the ether.
“The tram idea is one and it is positive that the waterfront is generating ideas, but I absolutely agree with Mike Galloway.
“The people in charge of the waterfront know what they are doing. There are capital costs for schemes like these and I think that this proposal would need to be looked at very carefully and undergo a detailed cost and benefit analysis to see if it can be justified.”