In the 1950s, above, the pier was the pride of the Clyde; in the 1990s, below, its future looks less secure

AT the end of this month more than 30,000 people will descend on Dunoon for the annual Cowal Highland Games. Many will take their cars, crossing the Firth of Clyde by Western Ferries to Hunter's Quay.

But a large proportion will arrive by car or on foot by CalMac ferry at Dunoon pier, which celebrated its centenary in June last year.

It could be that some of the visitors may find the pier decking difficult to walk upon.

What most visitors may not realise is that the pier, which over the years has become the corporate identity of Cowal on postcards and in brochures, is on its last legs.

Successive winter storms have badly weakened the wooden structure, despite almost #1m being spent on it over the last 10 years.

Putting it right, or replacing it, would cost #6.5m-#7m and take up all of Argyll and Bute's uncommitted capital budget.

Local councillor Dick Walsh said yesterday: ''Spending #100,000 on the pier after winter storms is nothing in terms of what has to be spent to keep this pier open.

''But for all the long-term good it does, we may as well put the money in a barrow and tip it over the side of the pier. Damage from winter storms is getting progressively worse.''

Councillor Walsh occupies the key post of convener of policy and resources for cash-strapped Argyll and Bute Council.

He and his council colleagues feel they have been put in an impossible position by successive governments' indecision on the future of ferry services on the Clyde.

Until that is resolved nothing can be done about a pier that is crucial to the future of tourism-dependent Dunoon and its Cowal hinterland.

Unfortunately, time is running out. The pier may have collapsed into the sea or have had to be closed for safety reasons in less than five years from now.

Costs of refurbishment or replacement are similar - around #6.5m. The construction of a breakwater to protect the existing structure would cost between #4m and #5m.

In the short term the council, which owns this disintegrating relic of the Clyde's glory days, are having to impose a weight restriction - 40 tonnes to 17 tonnes.

In addition, the car ferry berth may have to close altogether later this year so that more detailed assessment of the structure can been made.

Councillor Walsh said: ''It's the biggest single issue to affect this area since the Americans left the Holy Loch.

''Here we are at the height of the tourist season and that's what visitors are seeing.

''In 1992 the Americans left. It was a serious matter for our economy. The Government recognised that by forming an action group and providing #12m to help re-vitalise the area. A great deal was achieved.

''Now here we are seven years later and we're faced with this. It will take all of our capital borrowing consent to replace this pier.''

The #12m of ''enterprise funding'' was used for inward investment, to create alternative employment and to improve infrastructure. An industrial site was created, providing factory units and financing marketing exercises. Councillor Walsh acknowledged there had been a few failures, but on the whole the initiative had been a success.

However, if the local authority had been given the bulk of the money there's little doubt that significant funds would have been invested in the pier.

When the Conservatives were in power the former Argyll and Bute District Council made a bid for the then new Challenge Fund resource but were knocked back on the grounds that the Government was reviewing the Clyde Ferry Services.

At the time Argyll and Bute thought that was a reasonable position, since before spending money on the pier it ought to be established what type of ferries were going to be running from it, or if ferries were going to be using it at all.

Then, of course, the report did not appear, and the council started to pressure government again about it. There was chagrin in council circles that neither Argyll and Bute nor Inverclyde Council, the authorities immediately affected by any review of ferry services, were not consulted.

With the election of the Labour Government in 1997 Argyll and Bute began pressurising Labour Ministers on the matter. The council was advised that no significant sums could be spent on the pier until the Government decided on the ferry situation.

The consultants' report commissioned by the previous Government was not published. However, a draft copy found its way to Argyll. It was dynamite.

One option was not to run ferries from Dunoon Pier but channel all traffic through Hunters Quay where Western Ferries have captured 75% of the vehicle market. Unfortunately that would have a devastating economic impact on Dunoon town centre, the fear being that tourists would simply turn right at Hunter's Quay and not come into Dunoon at all.

The issue of the Gourock-Dunoon ferry services is complicated. Western Ferries, a private company, make a profit of around #800,000 per year. State-owned CalMac are subsidised by a similar amount. However, it is not a comparison of like with like.

The most obvious reasons are the frequency of Western's run - every 30 minutes as opposed to CalMac's hourly service; higher and more expensive specifications for CalMac's ships for passengers, whereas Western are not geared up for large volumes of foot passengers; and the longer CalMac run (70% longer) resulting in higher operating costs per journey.

According to a study by Mr Neil Kay of the University of Strathclyde, a ferry service of any type on the current CalMac run was unlikely to be profitable and would probably need to be subsidised, whether the operator was state or privately owned.

Another major issue is the capitalising of the existing ferries. Will the Government give CalMac the capital to provide new vessels, or will they re-engine the current ferries?

The report talks about abandoning Dunoon pier and using the coal jetty as a landing facility, with CalMac being allocated similar vessels to Western Ferries.

Councillor Walsh said: ''For the last four years government has been dragging its heels on this consultative document about the future of the ferries on the Clyde. Until Government resolves that issue we can't get the money to assist with the improvements to the pier.

''We estimate that it will require between #5m and #7m to replace the pier.

''But we don't know what kind of structure we'd put there - do we repair the present pier and include a breakwater to protect it? Or do we put a breakwater with a linkspan on it which would then become the main loading and unloading facility?''

Local opinion is adamant that the pier must be retained, with possibly both operators using it.

Yet the problems of the pier are multi-layered. A major worry for Argyll and Bute is the restructuring of European funding on which it had depended for a large slice of the necessary capital. In the absence of such funding a substantial capital allocation from the Scottish Executive would be required.

Should the Government abandon Dunoon pier for passenger and vehicle landing, the case for large sums being spent on a pier that had become a recreational rather than transport facility would be much diminished.

As if there weren't enough problems for Argyll and Bute, the pier is a B-listed building and the local authority, in theory, is expected to do all in its power to retain such structures.

However, when work was being done recently on pier lighting the stabilising levellers of the vehicle went through the pier decking.

The historical view is that the pier is in the wrong place in terms of the weather. It's very exposed and gets hammered by the South-Westerlies. A breakwater is desperately needed. Argyll and Bute has #100,000 earmarked for a breakwater feasibility study, but until it gets clarification about the future of the ferry services, there can be no decision about whether the breakwater itself should have roll-on, roll-off facilities.

Councillor Walsh said: ''It's like the Forth Road bridge. We're constantly working on this pier.

''The major problem with the pier is the sub-structure, where the metal bolts take the piles. We've lost a fair percentage of the piles.

''Some of the piles that were originally a foot square are now the thickness of a person's wrist.

''If this pier ceases to be a passenger terminal and we don't have the resources to upgrade it, and it deteriorates, what happens? It's a listed building. Will the Secretary of State come down heavily on us for failing to maintain it?