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Lochboisdale to Mallaig ferry 10/9/11
Huw Francis’ statement to the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee
“ The islands of Eriskay, Benbecula and South Uist are some of the most remote and economically fragile areas of Scotland.
In the 21st century it is unacceptable that the only direct ferry service from South Uist to the mainland of Scotland is a ferry service that operates four days a week, and can take up to 7.5 hours to reach Oban. This is the worst provision of any lifeline service in Scotland.
It is stated policy of the Scottish Government to reduce regional inequality and create a fairer, healthier society for its population.
The islands of Benbecula, Eriskay and South Uist have seen a sustained reduction in transport links and services for generations and this has resulted in economic decline and depopulation as well as rural deprivation and high levels of fuel poverty.
Improved transport links will support the local economy and boost the committed efforts of the island community that is working towards its own economic regeneration through taking ownership of the South Uist Estate in 2006.
Since the community purchase of the island estate, Stòras Uibhist, in partnership with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highlands and Island Enterprise and Scottish Government, has directly secured over £20m of investment from the public and private sector. Further investment from local, national and international companies has also supported the local economy.
However, the poor transport links continue to constrain the benefits that will be brought to the islands from this investment. The highly successful implementation of RET has boosted visitor numbers to the Hebrides, but has resulted in ferry services being stretched and potential passengers turned away by Caledonian MacBrayne when ferries are booked to capacity.
The constraint on capacity frequently results in potential ferry users being deterred from travelling to the Western Isles at all, when desired sailings are booked to capacity.
Hotel operators regularly report bookings being cancelled because potential guests cannot book a ferry to reach the islands. With a frequent daily ferry service to Locboisdale, the constraints on the tourism sector would be significantly reduced, particularly on the important Saturday changeover day.
Island residents and business users also find that CalMac will not take further bookings for many sailings, particularly at short notice, due to the sailings being booked to capacity. This impacts on economic activity and the quality of life on island residents.
A Lochboisdale to Mallaig ferry service would significantly cut travel times for business users, tourist visitors and residents on all the major routes to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness. Not only would this bring economic and social benefits to the islands, it would contribute significantly to the economy of Scotland and the Scottish Government carbon emissions targets.
Mallaig Harbour has historically operated services to Lochboisdale, but now that the Fort William to Mallaig road has been upgraded at a cost of millions of pounds and is billed as ‘The Road to the Isles’, there is no ferry service operating to the Western Isles at all.
The re-
Previous experience of introducing new ferry routes has demonstrated that there will
be an uplift in users across the whole range of ferry services. The inter-
Scottish Government has recently purchased the MV Finlaggan for CalMac to operate on the service to the island of Islay and there is now an additional vessel in the fleet available to improve services to the residents of Scottish Islands. It would be a betrayal of the island communities if this spare boat was sold, or tied up and left idle when it could be working for the people of Scotland.
The local authority recently completed another consultation on ferry service provision
and the overwhelming response from the people of South Uist and Eriskay was for the
re-
The community of Benbecula, Eriskay and South Uist call upon the Scottish Government to make best use of its assets in these economically difficult times to support the people of Scotland’s islands as they strive for economic and social regeneration in one of Scotland’s poorest regions.
The re-