Temporary reprieve on the cards for Lochmaddy ferry service
Hopes have been raised that the closure of Uig Pier will be delayed to the end of January, and reduced to a period of 14 weeks. If agreed, the new plan would see the original six month outage replaced by two shorter route closures running from 30 January to 27 March and from 30 October to 11 December next year.
The proposal has been put forward by Highland Council and pier operators CMAL but comes with a warning from Calmac that construction works could impinge on safe berthing and therefore risk unplanned closures during the busy summer period.
MSP Alasdair Allan described the outcome of the meeting as ‘significant progress’, saying: “I welcome this new proposal which will very significantly reduce the number of weeks that Uig pier will be out of action. It is my view that this disruption, while still far from ideal, will be easier for local businesses and passengers to work around. The Minister for Transport has put a lot of work into coming back with these alternative proposals.”
As of the end of August, contingency plans had still to be confirmed and the timetable was still unavailable for bookings after 10th October.
Previously published contingency measures included the possible charter of MV Arrow and MV Pentalina, a rerouted service to Ullapool, and additional sailings on the Lochboisdale Mallaig/Oban and Sound of Barra routes.
Cllr Uisdean Robertson was cautious in his assessment of the new proposals, telling Am Pàipear: “The opportunity to shorten the timetable of works is attractive but we need to see the full detail of what is on offer to fully understand the potential for disruption in the period between the two outages. Meetings are already scheduled with that in mind.”
Uist sailings were cancelled a total of 18 times during August, including the Lochboisdale – Mallaig service on Thursday 25th, which impacted the Askernish Open, scheduled to start the following day. Stòras Uibhist CEO, Darren Taylor said: “The Askernish Open brings tens of thousands of pounds to our fragile economy every year. Hundreds of visitors stay in our hotels and B&Bs, spend money across the island and enjoy one of the finest golf experiences in the world. Today’s cancellation has caused immense problems for golfers and their families travelling for this weekend’s event. Sadly, it is just the latest in the long line of problems caused by ferry disruption. How much longer are we expected to put up with this, how much longer can our businesses survive and how much more disruption is our community expected to take before CalMac and the Government accept enough is enough and fix the problem once and for all.”
As Am Pàipear went to print, a meeting to discuss ferry service failures with John Swinney had been scheduled for Thursday 1st September, when the Deputy First Minister was due to be in Uist to officially open Cnoc Solleir.
