Doubts about the wisdom of promoting the Tay from Perth for pleasure cruises have been swept aside by the council.
Councillor Alan Livingstone said it would provide the “must see” attraction that Perth lacked while Councillor John Kellas reiterated the aim of seeing visitors travelling from Perth to Dundee by water taxi.
“What could be better than sitting in one of our wonderful hotels and going by river taxi to the V&A and then coming back in the evening?” asked Mr Kellas at a meeting of the enterprise and infrastructure committee.
“It would be wonderful if we could achieve that.”
Councillors told that work on three pontoons, at Tay Street, Willowgate and Elcho Castle, will start in the summer, funded by a £600,000 grant from the Coastal Communities Fund.
Cold water was poured on the project recently by local maritime expert Captain Douglas Harvey who claimed the pontoons could end up a “white elephant”.
The master mariner believes that insurance issues, maritime regulations and a need to survey sections of the river regularly could scupper the plans.
However, director (environment) Barbara Renton said they had sought legal advice and were confident of their plans, a stance which was backed up by David Littlejohn, the council’s head of planning and development.
“These are not simple pontoons, they fall and rise with the tide and are very robust structures with rails,” he told the meeting.
He said they needed to get the pontoons in place for the river to be used more but he did not envisage things like water taxis becoming a reality until the V&A was open and the park-and-ride was built near Walnut Grove.
Mr Littlejohn said in the meantime the pontoons could be used by everything from kayaks to river cruises.
Councillor John Flynn said the idea of taking to the river had captured the public imagination.
“People are talking and getting excited about sailing down the Tay,” he said.
The meeting was told that a subsequent application for £100,000 had been successful which would pay for storage at Willowgate for a City Activity Centre.
This would enable organisations to store recreational equipment, and Perth College UHI had already indicated interest in using the centre as a base for rowing and outdoor activities.