The completion of Dumbarton’s flagship path will be delayed by up to a year as the council waits on landowners to piece together their sections.
The route, which will run from Dumbarton Castle to the town centre, was due to be finished in December but delays will now not see it completed until the end of next year.
The £1.5million cost of the path is being split between Dumbarton Football Club, Turnberry Homes Ltd, Lidl and Cullross Homes Ltd as it runs through their sites.
West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) will also make a contribution but bosses have now revealed they are prepared to pay over and above that in a desperate bid to get the path built.
The local authority say they would later claw back the money from the landowners.
The year-long delay comes after council regeneration chief Jim McAloon said in 2017 the path must be completed by December 2019.
The new waterfront path was identified as a priority in the action plan following a major consultation driven by WDC on the future development of Dumbarton.
Each of the landowners are set to pay 70 percent of the cost of the path running through their land, with the council paying the remaining share.
Last November, a council meeting heard that the local authority had yet to meet agreements with Dumbarton Football Club and Turnberry Homes.
Dumbarton Football Club’s chairman John Steele later highlighted the club’s “financial restrictions” in relation to the path.
He said in December: “What is being proposed regarding a walkway proximate to the club and our role in relation to that awaits further clarification. Following the recent rejection by WDC of a proposed relocation of our stadium within the locality, the club obviously faces significant financial restrictions.”
He added that the club planned to be as co-operative as possible.
Revised planning guidance will be discussed at a planning committee meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) explaining how the council could build the path on behalf of the developers.
It reads: “The council is keen to have the waterfront path delivered as soon as possible to the specification set out in the waterfront path construction drawings by the consultants. The council will pay for the delivery of the path with a legal agreement setting out the contribution towards the cost required from the developer.
“The council will seek to ensure that necessary bonds are in place as part of any legal agreement to facilitate the completion of any section of path along the waterfront should its delivery be unduly delayed or threatened by unforeseen circumstances.”
Regeneration works are well underway at the waterfront, with the long demolished Allied Distillers whisky tower paving the way for a new era.
Two hundred new homes are currently being built by Cullross, which will open up access to the waterfront for the first time in 150 years with the overhaul marking the start of regeneration at the edge of High Street.
Lidl is also set to build a £6million store at the site, due to be completed in November.
