CalMac to continue with vehicle and passenger service
2006 TIMETABLE STILL IN OPERATION ON ROUTEIn spite of its absence from CalMac’s recently-published timetable for next year, it has been confirmed that the current ferry service which operates between Dunoon Pier and Gourock will continue to carry both vehicles and passengers. After weeks of uncertainty, an agreement was reached following a meeting last Thursday between representatives of Argyll and Bute Council, Minister for Transport Tavish Scott MSP, and Argyll and Bute MSP George Lyon.
Commenting on the agreement, Mr Lyon said: “It was a good constructive meeting with the Minister who clearly understood the local concerns there are about the ferry service. I welcome his assurance that CalMac would continue to operate the Gourock - Dunoon route and his ongoing commitment to securing the future of the service.”
There will, however, be a weight restriction of 15 tonnes imposed on the pier from Monday November 6 to allow for essential maintenance work, Once this work is complete, the weight restriction will be raised to 33 tonnes.
Over 95 percent of daily pier vehicular traffic will be unaffected by the works, and the passenger service will be completely unaffected. There will be also be a 5mph vehicular speed limit on the pier.
Council leader Allan Macaskill said: “I found the meeting to be very fruitful and willingness has been expressed on both sides to reach a satisfactory conclusion which should meet the desires of the people of the Cowal peninsula.”
A council spokeswoman explained that Cowal residents have continually said that a passenger and vehicle ferry which operates between Dunoon Pier and Gourock best suits their needs and the continuation of this service is the priority for both the council and the Executive. The tendering process organised by the Executive is being undertaken to achieve this aim within the constraints imposed by European law.
She continued: “In the current tendering process, the Executive has confirmed its preference for use of the new linkspan at Dunoon. The option of using the existing side loading facility would not be ruled out at this time if this cannot be achieved.
“It was agreed that the current CalMac vehicular service should continue to operate on the route until a new ferry service is put in place by the Scottish Executive. To ensure continuation of this service, the council and Executive will work together to resolve the financial implications of keeping the vehicle accessway open to the berth on Dunoon Pier currently used by the CalMac streakers.”
Earlier this month, Caledonian MacBrayne announced that the Dunoon-Gourock service could be operated as passenger-only after the council’s decision to place a weight limit of 13 tonnes on the pier. The ferry company said that this could have an impact on the company’s revenues and reputation at a time when the route was being offered for tender.
Speaking after the agreement between Argyll and Bute Council and the Transport Minister was announced, CalMac’s Managing Director Lawrie Sinclair said: “I welcome the council’s clarification of the position with regard to the concerns we raised about operational matters. The 15 tonne restriction now enables us to accept most coaches, without having to decant their passengers. Obviously, we can now continue to operate a vehicular and passenger service.”
The 15 tonne limit means that cars can be carried and most coaches will now be allowed to carry passengers across the pier. However, articulated lorries and large laden box vans will not be accepted on the route.
CalMac has also confirmed that the current Gourock to Dunoon timetable will continue to be operated until the future of the service is decided.
Mr Sinclair added: “While our Explore brochure for 2007 does not contain the Gourock to Dunoon summer timetable, customers should assume that for 2007, the summer and winter timetable for 2006 will apply unless and until alternative arrangements are put in place by the Scottish Executive.
“CalMac is currently considering all the options as detailed in the Invitation to Tender and will make available our decision on what we are doing as soon as practicable. Once the various issues connected to the tendering process have been clarified, the operator will be in a position to clarify matters further.”
Jim Mather MSP, who will contest the Argyll and Bute seat in next year’s Scottish Parliamentary election, commented: “I am very pleased to learn that the meeting resulted in an agreed solution that means that the vast bulk of vehicular traffic can still access the pier to use the service. That is the solution that is likely to be satisfactory to the people of Cowal and means that the prospect of a “passenger only” service that was trailed when the repair work was first announced has been averted.”
A further meeting between the Minister and council representatives to discuss how a ferry service can continue from the Pier will take place after Christmas.
Councillor Brian Chennell Chair of the Bute and Cowal Area Committee, who also attended the meeting said: “I am happy to have had the opportunity to discuss with the Minister and our local MSP the problems and issues regarding the ferry service that are causing concern to the people of Cowal. I feel, as a result of the meeting, that we have received a positive response from the Executive on the way forward.”


Burgh Hall project continues to progress
Proposals for the next stage of the Burgh Hall project have been received by Strathclyde Building Preservation Trust (SBPT) from a team of experienced consultants. These proposals detail how the consultants will carry out an appraisal into future uses for the Dunoon Burgh Hall.
The team, who cannot be named at this stage, will undertake an ‘options appraisal’ which will explore a number of possible uses for the Hall and ultimately provide details of all potentially viable options. This will allow the SBPT and Fyne Homes to work out the most appropriate way forward for the Burgh Hall.
SBPT and Fyne Homes have approached the Architectural Heritage Fund, who visited the hall in July, and Communities Scotland for funding that will allow the team to get underway. It is hoped that full funding will be made available by the end of December of this year.
Sarah MacKinnon, chief executive of SBPT, is pleased with the continuing progress being made on the Burgh Hall project. She said: “I am confident that, by the end of this year, we will have secured full funding that will allow us to commission the consultants to carry out this all-important options appraisal.
“The options appraisal will provide us with essential information as to possible uses for the Burgh Hall and allow us to make the best decision as to the future use for this highly significant building.”
Alan McDougal, director of Fyne Homes, said: “The options appraisal is a crucial document that will help us to determine the most appropriate use for the building.”


Residents voice concern over condition of road
The increasing deterioration of a residential road in the West Bay is causing concern to its residents - and also to the workers who uplift the wheelie bins from the street.
Crochan Road is probably around a kilometre in length, stretching from the Bishop’s Glen at the Dunoon end to a former gamekeeper’s cottage at the other. It is accessed by a short stretch of road from Kilbride Road.
The road surface is rough and uneven, and getting access to the road, even for pedestrians, is quite a task.
Local resident Danny Paterson said: “The condition of this road has deteriorated considerably in the six years that I’ve lived here. It’s been signposted and had street lights fitted, so it seems fair to assume that it’s been adopted by the council.
“I understand that they planned to tarmac the road last year, but the money went somewhere else.”
Mr Paterson said that he and other residents had attempted to improve the surface themselves, but the dressing they had laid had been washed away by heavy rain.
“There’s another problem,” he explained, “when we have heavy rain water pours down into Kilbride Road. A number of the properties there have been flooded, and the council was supposed to be drawing up a flood prevention scheme. However, so far nothing has come of it.”
“One of my neighbours is in her eighties, and has become a prisoner in her own home. The road surface is so bad she has difficulty walking on it, and some taxi drivers, who are concerned about potential damage to their vehicles, are now refusing to come into the road.”
Mr Paterson, who is a partner in a local estate agents, added that the lack of safe access was bound to affect property values, “Even if the house is a palace its market value is bound to be affected if you can’t get to it; similarly it’s not practical to expand or develop on the road while this situation prevails.
“There’s also an issue over emergency vehicle access. The vehicle used for the rubbish uplift comes from Rothesay because the usual freighter can’t get up the road. This raises the question – in the event of an emergency, could a fire engine get up?”
His view was supported by Gill Wilkinson, who lives further up the road. She said” There’s a serious problem with this road which is being seriously eroded every time we have heavy rain. The rate of erosion is so bad that a pipe crossing the lower part of Crochan Road which used to be buried, is now exposed on the surface.
“I’ve been told that it’s a gas pipe - but I certainly hope that’s not the case.”
Another resident, who asked not to be named, said that a taxi firm which she had used for many years was now refusing to come into the road. “We were told that this road was going to be resurfaced in February last year - that’s nearly a year back and still nothing’s been done.
“It’s time the council got its act together and put this right so that we can lead normal lives.”
However, any expectation that the council would act was quickly dashed.
Ward Councillor Dick Walsh said: “With regard to the issue of Crochan Road my understanding that the road is a private road and in the ownership of the Dunoon estate or Milton Estate.
“The council are in the process of arranging a flood prevention scheme for the Kilbride Road/Crochan Road area of Dunoon. This project is being worked up and presented to the Scottish Executive.
“For a variety of reasons the proposals for the flood prevention element have had to be altered, mainly to accommodate pipe diameters and provisions for a one in two hundred year flood scenario.
He added: “Discussions are ongoing at the moment with the Public Utilities on the impact that this will have on their services in the public road (Kilbride Road). We’ve included within this project the surfacing of Crochan Road from the junction with Kilbride Road to the rear of Mars Hill on Crochan Road. The scheme is awaiting approval by the Executive who will provide an element of the costs.
“The Council has a figure of money for its share of the total costs of the project in its capital programme. The issue of street lights and the access to Bishops Glen has no bearing on the ownership issue or who is responsible.”


Local shipowner adds to fleet
DEVELOPER Archie MacArthur, owner of the one and only Vital Spark, has bought the other Vital Spark.
Archie recently renamed his Inveraray-based puffer Eilean Easdale the Vital Spark having discovered - incredibly - that no other vessel was registered at Lloyds with the name.
The ship was tied up at the Coal Pier in Dunoon last Saturday, with an effigy of Para Handy - complete with a newly-painted red beard - basking in the sunshine on her quarterdeck.
Archie explained why he had bought yet another puffer.
The Auld Reekie, which began life as the VIC 27 before being operating for a number of years as a seagoing youth activity centre, has been lying in Crinan Basin since the last Para Handy television series, in which she played a starring role She carries the name Vital Spark, but was never registered as such.
“She’s a proper steam puffer, but to be honest, she’s in a dreadful state, and has in fact sunk on at least one occasion,” said Archie
Archie intends to bring the ship through the canal to Inverarary, but has no definite plans on what he will do with her.
‘To be honest, I only bought her because there was a rumour that she was going to be cut into bits and sold on E-Bay as bits of the Vital Spark,” he explained. “That’s what persuaded me to buy her. I don’t know yet how we’ll progress her restoration; one option being to get members of the public to ‘sponsor’ a plate to get restoration under way. I’ll certainly be exploring funding avenues, for restoration is going to be a big, and expensive, job.”