Troon dismay over Yousaf ferry snub

Councillor baffled by support for Ardrossan

Troon councillor Philip Saxton has expressed his “extreme disappointment” that Ardrossan has apparently been favoured over Troon in the ferry wars.

A decision is imminent on which port will run the new bigger ferry from next summer.

Councillor Saxton said: “I am very annoyed about the recent statement made by transport minister Humza Yousaf, who decided that Ardrossan is still the preferred location.

“It is impossible to understand the logic of this decision as Troon comes out as a better location based on the business criteria that the report considered.

“Troon has come up as a more reliable option since Ardrossan suffers from 200 cancellations a year.

“It appears that Troon has a much stronger business case as the owners of Troon were willing to invest £ 8m in a new berth with no requirement for Scottish Government investment subsidy.

“Ardrossan on the other hand will require a public purse handout of at least £ 40m to bring it up to scratch.

“At a time of severe public cuts and when other public sector transport arrangements are causing so much public concern, you would think that the SNP government would be learning some lessons from these other disasters and make decisions based on cost to the public purse and customer reliability.”

The port of Troon is refusing to admit defeat until Humza Yousaf makes the government’s position clear.