Yachting Facilities for Oban

The Project Manager for the ambitious plan to transform Oban’s yachting facilities has now been appointed.

Consultants AECOM have been taken on to take the Oban Bay/Harbour proposal on to the next stage.

AECOM will examine the feasibility of installinga pontoon facility within Oban Bay to provide berthing in the heart of Oban Town Centre, as part of Argyll and Bute Council’s far-reaching £30million CHORD programme.

CHORD aims to assist regeneration and economic development in five of the area’s waterfront towns – Campbeltown, Helensburgh, Oban, Rothesay and Dunoon.

In Oban, the aim is that the new pontoons will provide berthing for 60 vessels and will form a transit marina for short stay only. This would maximise the benefit to business in the town by capturing a greater share of the growing marine leisure market.

AECOM’s tasks in developing the project to Full Business Case stage will include:

· ensuring the proposal for a marina within Oban Bay / Harbour is technically, operationally and commercially feasible and sustainable.

· identifying and evaluating the arrangements for delivering the proposal.



Councillor Duncan MacIntyre, Chair of the Oban CHORD Project Board, said: “I am delighted to see this project moving forward, and look forward to working with AECOM in the coming months.

“These plans represent a significant investment in the future of Oban, and in enhancing the environment for both residents and visitors alike. It is very exciting to have a Project Manager of AECOM’s calibre at the helm to take us through these next vital stages.”

The Full Business Case is due to complete by December 2009 and will then be submitted to the CHORD Programme Management Board and the Council’s Executive for approval to move to project implementation.