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we are getting increasing numbers of campervans and motorhomes who ‘wild’ camp, shit in the bushes and leave their mess behind – this new levy however doesn’t apply to them.
It really is quite strange that there is no additional fare supplement specifically for campervans, motor homes & caravans to fund the ferry network given how stressed it is. Speaking as someone who has been going to the western isles for nearly 30 years in their campervan and who would happily pay. Pre-subsidy 20 odd years ago the fares were quite expensive, silly cheap now.
calmac ferries are cheap as chips for foot passengers anyway
And since RET cars too. Hence why the Cumbrae ferry queue jams Largs every time there's a sunny day. (that there is a bus service on the island that will take people into Millport seems lost on the folk who would rather spend several hours queuing on either side)
The problem with the tourist tax is that most of the revenue has to be spent on tourist-facing services and infrastructure instead of just going into general revenue. It's a giant boondoggle for the tourism-industrial complex and consultants, and wouldn't do anything to eg replace housing stock lost to Airnbnb by building new social housing.
have you tried any of the these journeys on public transport:
No-one said one solution was going to be right for everyone. Sounds like these edge cases would appreciate a quicker journey with less congestion for a reasonable fee. Also sounds like the bus service would be more reliable if there weren't so many fing low occupancy cars in the way
I see Hebridean Isles is heading to be scrapped today - down to Glasgow and then who knows...
I first went on that boat in 1988(ish) and first ever Hebridean trip with family as a teenager, and was back on it again with my dad last year.
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-7.1/centery:57.4/zoom:7
....down to Glasgow to get stripped of usable parts then onwards for recycling. It's done well!
Several weeks of crew familiarisation
i realise it’s probably a contractual mess made more complex by the fact calmac don’t own the boat but… could none of that have been done whilst on the acceptance trials?
Probably not as it didn't have a seaworthiness certificate so imagine there are all sorts of rules around that. Plus as you say Calmac don't own it.
Now handed over to CMAL, apparently.
Great to see the new tub ploughing across the water...
...but I now see that the issues with Ardrossan harbour have been raised again.
Peel ports are a profit making company, so what do they gain by delaying redevelopment?
Anyone know why there's such an issue and delay between Scottish Government, Peel Ports and CMAL?
Anyone else watching the (rather endearing) series on Calmac at present?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001p4kw
I think the argument is who pays. Peel Ports will benefit from fees from Calmac going ahead. How much should the taxpayer pay for upgrading a privately owned asset
£400 million for 2 inter island ferry's is crazy.
makes the £7 billion for the 2 Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier's look like good value.
This may have been missed by some; MV Isle of Mull now borked - failed annual inspection of the emergency slide and passengers numbers restricted to 45 (normally 900). Currently being used on the Oban - Lochboisdale route where average Pax numbers in winter are low. No spares or replacement for slide as it’s so old - ship due to be retired next year anyway.
matt_outandabout
Free MemberPeel ports are a profit making company, so what do they gain by delaying redevelopment?
They don't actually make very much from small ports- the figure being quoted most is £15m from the Calmac mooring fees over the last 10 years, though that disregards other earnings of course. So inevitably they're always angling for more public money (but staying just on the right side of abandoning entirely) They're quite happy to let low-earning services just dangle, as seen with the Irish terminal at Ardrossan which they happily ran into the ground then abandoned, and they have plans to leverage the harbour rights of the clyde in other ways to make money more easily.
The other side of it is property development... Peel does both and has done very well out of aquiring ports and redeveloping them. In the medium-long term it might just make more sense for them to close the ferry port, I read (but can't confirm, there's a lot of bullshit being thrown around) that they've make more from the industrial estate parts of the port than from the harbour functions. Ardrossan already has big plans for redevelopment on the shore
makes the £7 billion for the 2 Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier’s look like good value.
I wonder if the ferries will need the deck repainted after the boat sitting in the baking heat of, err, Invergordon for a couple days.
MV Isle of Mull now borked
Keep the Alfred on hire and you get shiny new Glen Rosa when it comes into service?
Anyone know why there’s such an issue and delay between Scottish Government, Peel Ports and CMAL?
I think for starters it's a 4-way discussion rather than a 3-way one because North Ayrshire Council are involved too. It was green lit in 2018 but then seemingly nothing happened and the government 'paused' the project in 2023 because cost were increasing. I'm not sure how you pause something that hasn't started, but now all parties are back around the table trying to work out a new business model.
Something thats going to impact on that new buisiness model, presumably, is the new ships are 90 tons heavier than specified and therefore will have to carry less freight than intended.
The contract to build the refuelling facities was awarded in 2020 too, so that also is way behind schedule. But only for the reason that its unable to start because it's still not clear what port to actually build it in.
Ministers are still months away from making any announcement as to what the plan is going to be
Keep the Alfred on hire and you get shiny new Glen Rosa when it comes into service?
Unfortunately not, Alfred can’t dock safely at Craignure (they tried) and whilst they’re looking to build a new pier (Argyll & Bute Council) it’s going to take a few years. Looks like we’ve got another few years of reduced/impaired ferry service at least. The worst impacts are in winter where fewer crossings combined with poorer weather means you often can’t travel as planned - day trips to Glasgow for hospital appointments can be tricky.