Arran rally fails to unlock port sale
A Holyrood protest has failed to unseat a ferry chief from the Scottish Government’s stalled negotiations to buy Ardrossan Harbour.
Around 80 campaigners from ’Arran for Ardrossan Harbour’ and ’Save Ardrossan Harbour’ rallied outside the Scottish Parliament on June 19, and met Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop, calling for the removal of CMAL CEO Kevin Hobbs from talks.
The North Ayrshire port faces an uncertain future because two new CalMac ferries ordered by CMAL for the Arran route, the MV Glen Sannox and MV Glen Rosa, are too big to fit.
Ministers promised Ardrossan would remain the main gateway to Arran, and this year announced a bid to buy the harbour from Peel Ports for an upgrade. But the haggling has hit a stalemate.
Both campaign groups had met Mr Hobbs in Port Glasgow, but he "failed to convince" them of his "support of Ardrossan Harbour", or his "commitment to carrying out negotiations".
They said: "As head of CMAL, he is directly responsible for the procurement of the two ferries that are too big for the harbour, thus creating this problem."
Ms Hyslop rejected their demands to remove Mr Hobbs and take a more "hands on" approach.
She expressed "complete confidence" in him as the "only" person with "the technical knowledge to oversee the purchase".
But she told them sorting Ardrossan Harbour "is very high on her bucket list before retirement".
CMAL said: “We are fully committed to maintaining a robust and resilient ferry service for Arran, and no option is off the table. However, we must also ensure we deliver the best value for the public purse.”
Both groups pledge to lobby Peel Ports "more aggressively" to sell Ardrossan Harbour "at a reasonable and affordable price".
Peel Ports told us: “The ongoing cancellations, delays, and uncertainty are devastating for the people and businesses of Arran and Ardrossan. We’ve entered negotiations in good faith, working with pace and energy to a timetable we believed was achievable.
"Unfortunately, that pace and energy hasn’t been matched by those at the negotiating table. We appreciate that the buyers have other ferry issues to contend with but reaching a swift conclusion will require them to give this negotiation a higher priority.”
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