Still waiting for harbour refurb ...six years on

IT’S six years since the Herald revealed that a multi-million pound upgrade of Ardrossan Harbour had been agreed.

Since we reported the news on April 11, 2018, the UK has suffered a pandemic and a cost of living crisis, seen four Prime Ministers and two First Ministers in power - and Ardrossan, and Arran, are still waiting for the harbour work to even begin.

As we reported on last week’s front page, the Scottish Government and harbour owners Peel Ports remain massively at odds over who should stump up the cash for the work.

So where did it all go wrong? Let’s look back to the announcement made in 2018...

The upgrade was approved around one year after Ardrossan convincingly saw off a predatory bid from Troon to become Arran’s main port.

The Herald led a campaign which poured, ahem, cold water on Troon’s claims that it had better transport links and would be a much better landing site for Arran residents and tourists.

Given an extra 25 minute journey time on the ferry, the lack of a rail station within a 15 minute walk from Troon harbour and, well, you know the rest, the Scottish Government concluded that Ardrossan should remain the Arran ferry’s primary port.

But everyone agreed that the harbour needed a massive upgrade. And six years ago, the then Scottish Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf, confirmed the improvement works would begin once the plans were drawn up.

He said: “This is excellent news and I thank all the organisations that make up the Ardrossan Harbour Taskforce for their efforts.

“The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the Arran ferry service is fit for the future. These plans will help bring greater resilience and reliability to the link.”

The plans will see the current berth at the harbour realigned, a new linkspan installed, a new terminal building and improved transport links between the terminal and the town.

At the time, the then North Ayrshire Council leader, Joe Cullinane, said: “We fully expect that once the improvement works have been carried out at the harbour, it can be the catalyst for the wider regeneration of the Ardrossan area.”

The plans were indeed drawn up. And they sat there, with a selection of computer-generated images only serving to underline what Ardrossan could have, and should have, and was promised, but still remains a long way from reality.

Since then, the harbour’s problems have increased.

It quickly became apparent that the design of the new ferries meant they wouldn’t be able to use Ardrossan. That should have made the harbour upgrade a higher priority. And the costs rose.

The pandemic and the cost of living and energy crisis followed. And the costs rose again.

Then last year, the Scottish Government, now led by Humza Yousaf, called in the harbour plan for a re-examination of the costings. Almost six months on, we’re still waiting for the results of that review to be made public.

Meanwhile Peel Ports, who acquired the harbour when the Conservative Government privatised it in the early 90s, closed Ardrossan’s Irish berth permanently in January of this year due to major structural damage which they said meant it was no longer safe to use.

Since then, problems with the harbour’s main berth have forced CalMac to divert to Troon on numerous occasions because the MV Isle of Arran, providing cover while the route’s usual vessel, MV Caledonian Isles, receives major repairs, can’t get into Ardrossan harbour if the winds are too strong.

And the lack of a second berth in Ardrossan means that the Arran route’s second ferry, MV Alfred, is having to sail between Troon and Brodick all summer as it can’t use the only remaining Ardrossan berth.

All of that is leading to mounting concern that despite the Scottish Government’s repeated assurances that Ardrossan will stay as the Arran ferry’s mainland port, Troon could increasingly come to be seen as the more viable alternative.

While the route’s first new ferry, MV Glen Sannox, began sea trials in February, and the second, MV Glen Rosa, was finally launched on April 9, there’s still no chance either ship can use Ardrossan harbour without the upgrades.

And as the Herald revealed last week, harbour owners Peel Ports and the Scottish Government seems as far apart as ever as to who should stump up most of the cash.

Could the answer be to ditch the improved office facilities and transport links proposed, and simply fix the harbour itself ?

There have been repeated calls from politicians, in particular from Labour’s Katy Clark, for Ardrossan Harbour to be taken under Scottish Government control.

First Minister Humza Yousaf said at the weekend that the cost of that step, given budgetary constraints at Holyrood, made it unlikely.

Yet the economic effect of the loss of the Arran ferry service to Ardrossan could be catastrophic.

Thousands of travellers to and from the island spend their money in takeaways or supermarkets.

Arran residents, facing longer journeys and a potentially a bus transfer, have been vocal in supporting Ardrossan as their mainland port.

Their frustration led to the Arran Ferry Action Group disbanding in February - though the Isle of Arran Ferry Committee, which long precedes AFAG and includes membership from North Ayrshire Council, the NHS, tourism groups and others, is still going strong, albeit just as frustrated as everyone else at the lack of progress.

So where do we stand today? Some might say we’re perched precariously on the edge of a rotting old pier during a gale force storm.

On Arran, and in Ardrossan, we await the latest developments with our fingers crossed...and with some trepidation.