FERRY SERVICE RESTORED . . .
MYSTERY surrounds the on-off saga of CalMac’s Easter weekend service from Gourock to Dunoon.
The issue came to a head last Wednesday when a council officer received a telephone call from a CalMac official who told him that a board meeting was about to be convened and the intention was to remove the service over the Easter weekend.
Councillor Brian Chennell said that the following day the council officer was again contacted and told that the decision had been ratified, and received the agreement of the Transport Minister, Tavish Scott.
An emergency motion was put before the council, proposed by Cllr Dick Walsh and seconded by Cllr Chennell, to the effect that ‘the council resolves to make the strongest possible representations to the Scottish Executive regarding the proposed withdrawal of the Caledonian MacBrayne vehicular ferry service between Gourock and Dunoon over the Easter period, and calls on the Executive to ensure that the service operates as normal’.
Cllr Chennell said on Monday that as far as he was aware there had been no formal contact with the council from CalMac, either by telephone or letter, on the matter.
However, a spokeswoman from the Executive said that, while the transport minister had been made aware of the ongoing problems with the ferries, many of which were connected with delays to the work on Rothesay pier, he had not sanctioned the removal of the vehicular ferry service from the Gourock-Dunoon route. He regarded the matter as an operational one for CalMac.
Whatever the reason for the withdrawal, by Friday afternoon the service was back on.
Cameron ‘Ronnie’ Smith, is secretary of the Pier Pressure Group.
A quiet, unassuming man, he rose to fame locally when he chaired the public meeting at the Queen’s Hall and ended it with a memorable warning to the politicians present “No boats - no votes!”
He says: “When I heard what was planned I called George Lyon. He expressed disquiet and said that he would call the chairman of CalMac, Peter Timms, and get back to me.
“Twenty minutes later he called me back and said that he had spoken to Mr Timms who pledged that there would be a vehicle service over the holiday break.”
CalMac head of com-munications Hugh Dan MacLennan confirmed that the Dunoon-Gourock service would indeed run. “There will be one streaker on the route,” he explained, “and two streakers serving the Rothesay route.”
However, he gave no explanation of the logic be-hind the original decision to remove the streaker from the Cowal route to reinforce the two vessels already serving Bute.
Peter Timms has already been accused of ‘doing a Ratner’ after publicly stating that the company should pull out of Dunoon and leave the service to Western Ferries.


. . . and the political fall-out begins
THERE was only one certainty arising from last week’s episode, and that was that politicians would fall out over it.
George Lyon, whose intervention made him the hero of the hour, had no doubt where the blame for the situation lay.
It did not lie with the Executive, who built a linkspan that no-one uses, or with CalMac, which has a boat currently laid up which is perfectly tailored to serve it.
The blame, he said, lay with Argyll and Bute Council.
He said: “There was real concern in Dunoon what the impact of the loss of the vehicle service would have on local businesses over what is traditionally one of the busiest weekends of the year.
“I asked CalMac to rethink their plans and come up with a solution to meet the needs of both communities in Rothesay and Dunoon. I am pleased they agreed to do this.”
He claimed that the problems had arisen “as a direct result of the council’s utter failure to complete the first phase of the Rothesay pier project on time, which has prevented MV Bute returning to the route.”
He explained: “The council gave assurances that the piling work at Rothesay pier would be completed by the end of March allowing MV Bute to use the pier.
“Despite the contract only beginning in January, it is already nine weeks behind schedule and they have failed to meet that deadline.
“I find this unacceptable and am alarmed that there appears to be no sense of urgency from the council to ensure the contractors get the project back on target and prevent any further disruption to the ferry services”.
Stewart Turner, Argyll and Bute Council’s Head of Roads and Amenity Services, said: “Delays have been encountered during the course of the project.
“At the beginning, the Scottish Executive had to closely examine its Piers and Harbours budget to determine the best way to contribute towards the cost of the project.
“In addition, early in the construction work high winds and bad weather caused significant delays to the piling operations on site.
“This resulted in a very tight timescale as the council was conscious of the need to maintain appropriate access for vessels through to 2007. The contractor, Balfour Beatty, has rescheduled work and increased resources to try to make up for any lost time.
“Argyll and Bute Council rejects the claims that there has been a lack of urgency to ensure that the contractors get the project back on target.”
Councillor Dick Walsh was angry that, despite the implications of the service withdrawal, there was no consultation with councils involved on either side of the Firth.
He went on: “I am unclear of the role played by the Shipping Services Advisory Committee (Clyde) on this issue, but explanations are urgently required on the course of events.
“On late Wednesday/early Thursday we were made aware that the CalMac board had agreed that, due to delays with the works at the linkspan at Rothesay, they would transfer the streaker from the Gourock-Dunoon service to the Rothesay-Wemyss Bay route at the holiday weekend.
“The obvious solution that the MV Bute (currently laid up, since she is unable to use Rothesay pier) be used for the Gourock/Dunoon route was rejected on grounds of additional costs and CalMac’s interpretation of the subsidy and the current undertaking on the Gourock/Dunoon route.”
Cllr Walsh said attempts had been made prior to the council meeting to establish what was happening but this was made difficult due to the non-availability of people in authority at CalMac.
He went on to say: “We were appalled by this news considering that at the very recent meeting with the Minister of Transport in Edinburgh he assured us that the current ferry service would continue without reduction.”
“This is another example of the contempt on the part of CalMac towards the people of Cowal.
“As well as tabling an emergency motion I also wrote to Tavish Scott and copied this to George Lyon.
“I was seeking from the Minister clarification of his role in this issue and an explanation of why he had agreed to a reduction in our service when recently he had given us an assurance to the contrary.
“I also requested from him his support that if the MV Bute was lying redundant that this be used on the Gourock/Dunoon route as it could land at the new linkspan - surely the common sense solution.”
Cllr Walsh was also seeking an explanation as to why a new company had been lodged at Companies House as far back as August changing the name of the operating company from CalMac to Cowal Ferries Ltd.
He said: “Again we find it reprehensible that given all the discussions and meetings on the future of the Clyde Ferries that such actions should be taken without any discussion with the two major transport authorities, Inverclyde and Argyll and Bute, and with the representatives of the people in this area.”
He concluded by saying that he was concerned about the lack of consultation on the issue with the relevant bodies, and intended addressing his concerns with those involved over the coming weeks.
Speaking on behalf of the Pier Pressure Group, its secretary Ronnie Smith commented: “This whole episode has been extremely odd.
“We have had a specific guarantee from the Transport Minister that the CalMac vehicular ferry service to Dunoon would continue. We then have the board acting in a fashion which is a clear contravention of the wishes of its main shareholder.
“The notion that this has somehow been created by problems at Rothesay pier is as credible as the contention by the Pakistani cricket team that the Irish victory was due to the intervention of leprechauns.”


Work on Harmony site begins
WORK has begun at long last on a major blot on the centre of Dunoon.
The site of the former Harmony Hotel has been the subject of numerous false starts since the building was demolished in the wake of the departure of the US Navy.
For many years the site was adorned with a large sign portraying an artist’s impression of the luxury flats which were to be built on it.
Frequent enquiries to a previous owner in recent years elicited frequent promises of an imminent start on the work, but nothing ever came of them.
One reason given by the previous owner for the failure to go ahead was the position of the site, which is between the swimming pool and a garage - both of which were, of course, in place when the site was purchased.
The site was recently purchased by Development and Construction business Thirlestane Lands Ltd, based in Edinburgh, and it is carrying out the development.
Robert Braheny, of Thirlestane Lands Ltd, told us: “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to purchase the Harmony site, and we look forward to enhancing the town with our proposed development, which will comprise 24 flats.”
He also confirmed that his firm has applied to Argyll and Bute Council for a building warrant, and they hope to begin building work on the development by mid June.
The broad proposal is that the Harmony Hotel site is to be made into a car park with the existing car park between the swimming pool and Church Street, being used as the site for the waterfront development.
Mr Braheny confirmed that there will be a number of road closures while the works are in progress in order to re-route water, gas and sewer mains.
Excavators belonging to sub-contractors Kelty Plant moved in on Tuesday this week to level and skim the Harmony site, ready for initial construction works on the proposed new car park.


Council tries to placate Single Status anger
ANGER over the implementation of the controversial Single Status policy by Argyll and Bute Council - which will see many low-paid staff face substantial cuts in salary - threatens to disrupt the elections, due to take place in five weeks’ time.
Angry workers have already threatened to take industrial action over the Cowal Gathering weekend, and UNISON, which repre-sents many of those involved, has indicated that there is a possibility of a similar approach on May 3.
Unison official Donald Brown said: “We are considering a number of options at this stage, and industrial action on May 3 is one of them.
“We are trying to bring pressure on the council, which we believe has been showing intransigence.
“However, there are signs that they may have moved somewhat, and we will have a clearer view of the position when we meet with them at the Policy and Development Group on April 19.”
The issue has had a dramatic effect on workers’ morale; the Observer has been contacted by a number of council employees concerned that when the changes are implemented in two years’ time, their salaries will plummet.
One employee reckoned that the proposals would see his salary cut by a minimum of £1,800, and that he could lose as much as £3,000.
He also complained that he and others in the same position were struggling to grasp the paperwork, and pointed out that staff wishing to appeal were being given only a short time to do so, although the scheme which had produced the changes had taken seven years to develop.
Another employee with over 25 years’ service faces a cut of nearly 20 percent - £2,900 - and pointed out that no consideration had been given to length of service.
There were clear concerns about the impact of Single Status on Argyll and Bute Council staff - particularly those in lower grades who will be particularly hard-hit when the scheme is implemented - surfaced at last week’s meeting of the council.
At the meeting, a motion from Cllr Robert MacIntyre, seconded by fellow Bute SNP councillor Isobel Strong, called for an immediate report from the Head of Personnel Services detailing those employees whose gradings will be reduced and those whose grades have increased as a result of the Single Status comparison process, and also asked that a comparison be produced of the proposed staff gradings in Argyll and Bute with those of other authorities who had completed the Single Status exercise.
However, an amendment proposed by council leader Allan MacAskill and seconded by Helensburgh LibDem councillor Aileen Morton was carried instead.
Among the issues addressed in the motion was the appeal procedure itself. The closing date for appeals was originally set for next Friday, April 7. Now staff wishing to appeal will be required to submit a ‘holding letter’ by that date; the date for the detailed appeal will instead be May 29.
It also stated that those who wish to appeal should be given assistance in doing so by appropriately-trained staff, and that the weighting factors used in the evaluation process be made available to employees.
Also required by the motion is a detailed report identifying the changes in salary resulting from the job evaluation exercise.
Among other matters covered is a demand for a report on claims that job evaluation forms have been altered after the staff concerned had signed them off.
An assurance is also being sought from the Head of Legal Services about the legal status of the process in view of staff claims that it is illegal to implement a regrading of an employee, unless his or her post has been individually evaluated - which is not being done.
Whether the council’s move to address the matter will be enough to satisfy staff remains to be seen.