MEP demands legal action over ferry ‘guddle’
SNP Member of the European Parliament Alyn Smith has called on EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot to commence formal legal proceedings against the UK and Scottish governments over the continuing log jam on ferry policy.
Alyn Smith took part alongside Jim Mather MSP and other local politicians in a packed public meeting in Dunoon before last May’s Scottish elections, where he made undertakings to the people of Cowal - and put his own personal credibility at stake - over his interpretation of the EU rules regarding ferries and state aid.
Since the SNP election victory, Mr Smith has been working with Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson and Jim Mather in a concerted effort to cut through the years of confusion, and has come to the view that formal infraction proceedings are the only way to bring clarity to a still murky legal situation.
Mr Smith and Mr Mather have also jointly invited Transport Commissioner Barrot to come to Cowal and see the ferries for himself when he is in Scotland in late April.
Mr Smith said: “I’m not one for posturing, I do not make promises lightly and I undertook to cut through the years of guddle and confusion the SNP government inherited, and I firmly believe that court action is the only way to do it.
“The SNP administration inherited a poisonous guddle on ferry policy, and the Gourock-Dunoon route in particular.
“Claim and counter claim over what the EU rules mean and selective misinterpretation of the EU rules by various vested interests have produced a status quo that leaves nobody happy and the community and government stuck together in the middle of a swamp not of our making.”
In response to these moves, Gordon Ross, Managing Director of Western Ferries commented: “We would welcome any investigation into unfair subsidies in the Gourock-Dunoon route.”
Mr Ross added: “Any investigation resulting from this will have access to financial records which will show that the CalMac vehicle service is clearly being unfairly subsidised, contrary to EU state aid cabotage regulations.”
For the Dunoon Pier Pressure Group, Ronnie Smith said: “I welcome this action. This will afford the opportunity to have this matter dealt with in an open legal manner, and will compel the two governments to provide an adequate town centre vehicle passenger service. Hopefully it will bring to an end the sabotage of this route by various parties.
“My only concern is the length of time these proceedings may take, but I am encouraged nonetheless.”
Alyn Smith continued: “Were I a ‘Yes Minister’ character, I suspect Sir Humphrey would describe it as ‘courageous’ for an SNP member to call in the European Commission on his own party colleagues, but I am firmly of the view we need to light a rocket under this.
“The European Commission administers policy on state aids, but the European Court of Justice is the ultimate authority and the SNP’s robust approach has nothing to fear from formal proceedings being taken against us. Quite the reverse, I invite them, it will be just the laser beam of clarity this business has needed for nine years.
“Formal legal proceedings will oblige the Commission to formulate a case and to engage to resolve the matter. The proceedings happen on our watch so will be a bit uncomfortable for the government but we are where we are, and the status quo is intolerable for the people of Cowal.”
One of those who has been keeping an informed eye on the ferry issue over many years is Professor Neil Kay.
Professor Kay said he was ‘delighted’ by this news, adding: “Effectively what this does is to tell those who have been complaining to the European Commission so far to ‘put up or shut up’.
“This should allow things to move forward and clear the gridlock which we currently have over the Gourock-Dunoon ferry.”
Dunoon Community Council chairperson, Anne Gabriel said: “It would be great if this was a success. Hopefully this will bring things to a head and we will get the unrestricted service with new ferries which we are seeking.”


Mather attacks LibDems over RET response
Jim Mather MSP, has responded to calls from the Lib Dems for a wider implementation of the Road Equivalent Tariff pilot and the resolution of many long standing service and infrastructure problems in Argyll and Bute.
In a strongly worded statement, Mr Mather said: “Frankly, these Lib Dem attacks are pathetic. It is the easiest job in politics to ignore positive developments, paint a negative picture and persuade people to want everything to improve immediately. That just breeds cynicism and prevents people working together in common cause to improve matters.
Mr Mather continued: “Having been rejected last May, the LibDems appear to be keen to undermine positive developments like RET and ignore others such as the freezing of the council tax and the planned end of business rates that will keep many more small local businesses and services viable.
“For my part, I am proud of the start we have made -and it is only a start - proud that we are delivering our election promise of a RET pilot that will allow the build up of fleets and routes to meet growing demand. But I say that recognising that an immediate blanket approach to RET could have damaged local interests. For local people and businesses might have struggled to get on to ferries and it would have pushed visitor demand ahead of the capability of many islands to accommodate visitors.
“But more importantly I am proud that we are bringing Argyll and Bute together in public meetings designed to understand their needs and that we are taking those messages to Government, council, HIE and the many others, who deliver services or draw revenues from Argyll and Bute.
“That work allowed us to hold an Argyll and Bute summit in December to bring many of these stakeholders together. That, in turn, has started a process of engaging the business and voluntary sectors in Argyll and Bute.
“The first of these was a successful aquaculture session in Inveraray in January. We are now are poised to carry out sessions with our food and drink, transport, tourism, construction, forestry and biomass and voluntary sectors.
“The simple fact is that unlike the LibDem strategy this approach is bringing people together and concentrating on what we can do together.
“It rejects the blame game; it rejects the idea that we are victims; and it embraces the idea that we are all in this together seeking to achieve a growing working population and steadily improving services - which has not been the case for a generation.”


It’s not just ‘boy racers’ who speed!
A matter of concern to many residents of Bullwood, Innellan and Toward is speeding drivers - and the issue is raised regularly at meetings of South Cowal Community Council.
At its March meeting last week, the council heard from PC William McGraw, the local officer for the communities of Innellan and Toward.
PC McGraw said: “I have been based in Innellan village for ten years. There has always been a problem with vehicles speeding on the A815 Bullwood Road through Innellan village and down the ‘Toward straight’.
“The extent of the speeding issue has resulted in the majority of patrol officers being trained in the use of the Falcon speed detection device and, in conjunction with officers from Dunoon’s Road Policing Department, they are actively targeting motorists who are not adhering to the speed limits.”
He added: “It is exasperating on occasion to find that the very people who complain about speeding are the very same people who on seeing police officers at the side of the road, flash their lights to warn oncoming drivers that the police are there.”
During the community council meeting, PC McGraw was asked if there is anything that can be done should members of the public see someone driving in a manner that they feel is careless or dangerous.
He confirmed: “The answer to that is often yes. The law requires that there is a minimum of two competent witnesses to the event, and if there is sufficient evidence then a person may be reported to the procurator fiscal who will consider whether there is a case to answer.”
PC McGraw added: “I feel it’s only fair to point out that people automatically blame ‘boy racers’ as the main offenders.
“This is not always the case as we find people offending right across the board - from those dropping children off at school to commuters travelling to work - and a proportion of these are themselves members of the community affected by the speeding problem.”
He advised that as a result of the ongoing problem, extra attention will continue to be given to detecting offenders in this area over the foreseeable future.


Scottish water provide back-up to Tighnabruaich over Easter
Scottish Water is to install a temporary overland by-pass pipe near Tighnabruaich to help reduce the risk of disruption to the water supply in the area over the busy Easter holiday period.
A 4.5km stretch of raw water mains pipe which runs from Craignafeich reservoir down a remote hillside to the Tighnabruaich water treatment works has been affected by silting, which is reducing the amount of water that flows into the treatment works.
A statement issued by the water company said: “We have been doing all we can to ensure as much water as possible is transferred from the reservoir via the existing water mains to the treatment works since the problem became apparent in recent months, and this has minimised any disruption to supply so far.
“An anticipated rise in the population of the Tighnabruaich area during the busy Easter holiday period will mean a substantial increase in demand and a greater risk of problems with the supply via the existing water mains.
“In light of this, we have taken by-pass pipes from our emergency planning stores in Glasgow to the village as a precautionary measure and will lay them over the next few days.”
Steven Fraser, Scottish Water’s regional operations manager, said: “We are proactively laying out the by-pass pipes in case they are needed over the Easter holiday period when the population of the Tighnabruaich area can double.
“We recognise how important the Easter holiday period is to the area and its economy and we want to do all we can to minimise the risk of disruption to supply.”
Scottish Water will later this year begin a project to provide a permanent solution to the problem of silting in the existing mains pipe.