ASSURANCES HAVE been sought that the cost of repairing Moncrieffe Island and causeway will not spiral due to persistent delays in the work being carried out.

The £22,600 project has stalled after the contractors ran out of materials last year and were then prevented from returning to work by high tides in the Tay and bad weather.

The causeway is the only vehicular link to the island which houses allotments and the King James VI golf club. It, and the island itself, have been damaged by the recent high river levels.

The work is being paid for by Perth Common Good Fund and fund committee member Councillor Ian Miller has demanded to know why the project seems to have ground to a halt.

He said, “We had a good summer with low water levels and it was the ideal opportunity to complete the work, but we ended up with the contractor running out of materials which delayed it considerably.

“By the time it recommenced, it couldn’t be finished before the high water returned.

“I want to know that the extra costs incurred by this won’t be borne by the common good fund and that the contractor will be liable for any additional damage that has been caused during winter, with the massive volume of water we have had.”

Committee convener, Councillor Callum Gillies responded, “Conditions are unsuitable for finishing the job but engineers are keeping a watching brief and will get the contractors back as soon as the water gets back to the proper level.

“The cost is there and should not change but whether that will end up that way, I’m not 100 per cent certain.

“I’m told the price has been set for the job and that’s what it will be done for.”

A further update will be made at the next meeting of the common good fund committee on March 28.

The remedial work, which began last July, is the first in a series of measures to make the island more “user-friendly” for the public.

The next stage will be to upgrade paths on the island.

The causeway is leased by the council from the Crown Estate Commissioners for 50 years, until 2040.