Campbeltown Courier - Letters to the Editor 19.04.24

Championing farming and fishing industries

I was delighted to be back in Port Wemyss and Portnahaven recently to hear local concerns about road conditions, street lighting, broadband speed and ferry disruptions.

Fit for purpose roads and ferries are a must and the least that could be asked for an island that produces so much in tax revenue for central government coffers. 

I will keep pushing hard for more investment for our roads and our ferry fleet.

I also heard directly from local farmers and fishermen about the many challenges facing these essential industries.

Food security and jobs must always come first when both the UK and Scottish governments set policy. 

We need more common sense and better rural representation from what can unfortunately be very urban centric central governments.

With many of my family and friends working in both farming and fishing, I will always be a champion of our rural constituency and it’s needs.

Councillor Alastair Redman, Kintyre and the Islands ward.

CalMac chief executive’s resignation

The Ferries Community Board has noted the resignation of Robbie Drummond as chief executive of CalMac. 

We understand this would have been a difficult decision for Mr Drummond given his involvement and commitment to the company over the last number of years.

This was during a time when lack of investment in vessels made service delivery extremely difficult and created unprecedented impacts on our islands.

The Ferries Community Board has consistently asked for a change of approach from top management at CalMac to be more islanders and community centred.

This will only be achieved by changing the culture of the organisations in terms of policy, structure and strategic decision making.

The best route to improving decision making and communication is to fully involve islanders, communities and build again a service designed around the needs of these communities.

We will continue to push decision makers on these issues and constructively work to bring these improvements. 

If we are to get the best outcomes of the investment in new vessels and infrastructure, these changes must be made.

Angus Campbell, chairperson, Ferries Community Board.