Passenger boost may yet save our summer

It could be the save of the season for Arran’s beleaguered tourism industry.

CalMac has confirmed it will increase capacity on the Arran ferry routes this summer, meaning more visitors will be able to get to the island when tourism opens from July 15.

And there was more good news for the hospitality sector on Wednesday when First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced beer gardens could reopen from July 6.

It has emerged that while capacity on the MV Caledonian Isles will remain severely limited it will have at least 100 passengers per sailing, with talks continuing on the use of outdoor space.

The early arrival of the second summer ferry, the MV Isle of Arran, will give nine sailings on the Ardrossan to Brodick route from mid-July, with the Lochranza to Cloanaig summer timetable resuming from the same time.

It will also come as a relief for islanders travelling to the mainland and CalMac will publish the new timetable on their website today (Friday), which will run for two weeks from the end of the month. A further updated timetable will be published on July 2.

All of which will come as a massive relief for hotels, B&Bs and self-catering providers who already have numerous bookings as well as restaurants and bars and shops.

There had been serious fears that the 2020 season could be wiped out on Arran and that the island would be left adrift if people simply could not get to the island and went elsewhere.

However, the Arran Ferry Committee has been working hard behind the scenes with CalMac and Transport

Education chiefs and school heads in North Ayrshire had to go back to the drawing board this week after the surprise announcement by education secretary John Swinney that schools in Scotland should go back full-time from August 11

A North Ayrshire Council spokeswoman said: ‘This is a new planning assumption. Local authority contingency plans for the delivery of blended learning continue to be necessary.

‘Therefore, this week, our schools and centres will continue to issue information about the plans they have been developing over the last few weeks, based on 2m physical distancing and the blended learning model announced on Friday.

‘Our hope, like that of Mr Swinney, is that resumption of full-time education can commence for North Ayrshire’s children and young people in August. Of course, the safety of our children and staff remains our highest priority and any change to our contingency plans will be dependent on Scottish government guidance updated regularly over the summer.’