The Herald - The Herald Magazine
6 Russell Leadbetter hears the rival voices in the Ardrossan vs Troon ferry debate
GOVERNMENT MINISTERS ARE CONSIDERING A BID TO TRANSPLANT THE ARRAN FERRY ROUTE’S MAINLAND CONNECTION TO TROON FROM ITS HISTORIC HOME OF ARDROSSAN. RUSSELL LEADBETTER INVESTIGATES A TALE OF TWO COMMUNITIES AT OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE ECONOMIC SPECTRUM AND NEIG
THE waters down at Ardrossan harbour have witnessed no end of activity over the decades. For fully 182 years it has been the mainland port for Arran, 12 nautical miles away. But a threat to this has emerged from down the coast, from Troon. And if the threat comes to pass? Ardrossan can’t bring itself to think of the consequences.
Before he arrived three years ago, Reverend Don Currie, senior pastor at the South Beach Baptist Church in nearby Saltcoats, spent 11 years in Kirkwall, on Orkney, so he knows what it’s like to travel by ferry. He knows, too, that Ardrossan desperately needs its ferry link with Arran.
“I understand,” he says, “the significance and the impact that there would be on the community of Ardrossan in particular, and the Three Towns [Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston], if the ferry terminal were to go.
“Coming on the back of other difficult economic situations that the Three Towns have had to deal with over the years, including the loss of the ICI plant [at Ardeer] – frankly, the last thing it needs right now is another economic kick in the teeth.”
Paul Fisher, a senior reporter with the Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald, puts it this way. “People know Ardrossan,” he says, “because they know that’s where you go to get the ferry to Arran. It offers an immense pride for locals, who have something that neighbouring towns don’t. Ardrossan isn’t a glamorous or affluent place, it doesn’t have much, and without the ferry, it would have next to nothing.”
Minister and journalist are seeing for themselves what happens when a town comes together to keep hold of a lifeline service. Ardrossan and North Ayrshire Council (NAC) have for several months been waging a vigorous campaign since Associated British Ports (ABP), which operates the Port of Troon, notified the Scottish Government that it was keen to attract the service. A Transport Scotland study is looking at mainland berthing options for the Arran ferry, to ensure that the route’s potential is maximised. A decision is expected in the spring.
There is, as you might expect, a lot riding on it.
NAC says the loss of the ferry route would “decimate” the local economy, terminating 165 directly-linked jobs and £4.4 million in wages. The local authority has already indicated that it may seek a judicial review if Ardrossan loses out. Councillors in South Ayrshire, which includes Troon, gave their unanimous support for ABP’s proposal to develop services at Troon harbour, though council leader Bill McIntosh has said the council “has no part to play in the process, which is solely a matter for the Scottish Government”.
There has been much sniping between Ardrossan and Troon over which port is the more reliable, and over the cancellations that occasionally affect the Ardrossan service. But ABP’s move is, according to NAC leader Joe Cullinane, “divisive and opportunistic”.
Brian Wilson, the former MP for Cunninghame North, has described it as an “audacious bid by a commercial interest … to muscle in on something to which they have no legitimate claim”.
ABP, for its part, has been issuing confident, strongly-worded news releases talking about “further misery” for Arran folk as Ardrossan ferry cancellations “soar again” and about Troon’s “superior all-weather berthing”. The Choose Troon Ferry Campaign on Facebook, meanwhile, has attracted just over 1,000 likes.
And Arran: what do the people there think? We’ll get to that shortly, though a petition on change.org by Brodick resident Terri-Jan Lambie, which describes the plans to relocate the ferry from Ardrossan as “ridiculous”, has more than 2,500 supporters.
NAC’s energetic online campaign includes a protest letter to be sent to Humza Yousaf, the minister for Transport and the Islands, which has around 4,500 signatures.
Fisher, who has been covering the story, says the support for the Save Our Ferry campaign has been “unbelievable”. When news of ABP’s bid first broke, he says, “it was clear to see that the people of Ardrossan were all in agreement that something had to be done to retain the ferry service. For a large number of people to be rallying, and still campaigning, on the issue nearly four months down the line, is quite staggering. There is a clear wave of support for Ardrossan that shows how much the ferry means to the town.”
With a new, £48.5m Caledonian MacBrayne vessel due to begin sailing between Brodick and Ardrossan in July 2018, a ministerial taskforce was established last year to focus on Ardrossan harbour’s operational effectiveness. Yousaf was scheduled to visit Arran yesterday to talk to stakeholders there.
“This thing started with ABP losing their Northern Irish ferry and having a harbour over in Troon that is basically not being used,” says Cullinane, who also speaks of Ardrossan harbour’s integrated ferry/train service. “They put in a speculative bid to the minister and Transport Scotland. Unfortunately, I think, the minister is taking that speculative bid forward and has commissioned a STAG [Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance] report. Obviously, there’s no open competitive tender as well … the fact we are now finding ourselves in this situation is maybe a bit disappointing.”
Does ABP’s bid rankle with him? “Of course it does. But, as I say, they’re not acting on any demand from anybody in Arran or anywhere else. This is a private port operator making what they see as a commercial bid. There’s no social or economic reason for them to deliver that speculative bid.”
When asked about the options if Troon wins, he says, “The council would need to consider a judicial review. We certainly wouldn’t be accepting any removal of such a key economic driver. Ardrossan is one of the most deprived communities in North Ayrshire. If you look at the most recent SIMD [Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation] data, the most deprived datazone within that is Ardrossan Central. So, absolutely, we will not just accept the ferry being removed to Troon.”
Peel Ports’ project director for Ardrossan Harbour, Doug Coleman, has said that switching the service to Troon would result in a 38 per cent longer journey, as well as higher ticket prices and “fewer sailings for the Arran residents who rely on the service”.
A detailed economic study commissioned by NAC and Peel Ports says awarding the service to Troon would cost the public purse £166m over the next 30 years. There would be £75m in higher fares; £30m in capital funding would be needed to replace losses to Ardrossan. Take away the ferry, they say, and that would also jeopardise a further £100m of regeneration investment in Ardrossan.
Peel Ports and the council have pledged more than £15m to upgrade Ardrossan’s facilities and prepare for the arrival of the new CalMac ferry. That, of course, would be lost should ABP be successful.
The chair of North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, Councillor Peter McNamara, has spoken of his “grave concerns” over its ability to deliver key services to vulnerable Arran residents effectively and within budget if Troon becomes the ferry’s new home.
On February 7 an ABP press release said there had been 298 cancelled sailings between Ardrossan and Brodick in the year to 2016, up from 253 in the previous 12-month period. It was, ABP added with some relish, a “dismal record”. It said the figures, reported to the Isle of Arran Ferry Committee, showed the reliability of the service “declining by more than 17 per cent. It all adds up to misery for islanders, who face constant delay and disruption”.
ABP also said the performance compared poorly with its Port of Troon, “where P&O’s service to Larne … saw just five cancellations a year”. Cullinane says the Troon to Larne service “was a month-a-year summer service that sailed once or twice a day. Ardrossan to Brodick is an all-year-round lifeline service, so of course the number of cancellations is going to be higher.
“The vast majority of cancellations [to Arran] are because of technical issues with the boat and the other issue is extremely high winds which knock the ferry service off across the whole of the west coast. A very small number of sailings have been cancelled for reasons which are quite hard to identify, and we have written to CalMac for information”.
A CalMac spokesman said: “Any decision to cancel during periods of extreme weather is done solely on the basis of the safety of our passengers, crews and vessels. We fully understand the importance of our services to island communities, so that decision is never taken lightly, but we know that our communities would expect us to put their safety first.”
HALF an hour away from Ardrossan, in Troon, Donna Read, a spokesperson for the Choose Troon campaign, says: “The campaign is all about supporting ABP, who want to invest in Troon. From the first time we met ABP, it was clear that we were supporting them in their bid to become the ferry operator.
“We ultimately know that, down the line, there will be an economic benefit to the town. We know that because when we had the Irish ferry there was money circulating throughout the businesses here. Some of that money does come back to the town.
“This is a great opportunity for Troon and for our residents. We have cycling clubs here, we have walking clubs, and to give them access over to Arran, without having
This is a private port operator making what they see as a commercial bid. There’s no social or economic reason for them to deliver that speculative bid
to use cars, will be a tremendous opportunity – just to have the Arran ferry on our doorstep. Troon is also introducing a street market that will run one Saturday every month; as part of that we’d hope to establish trade links with businesses on Arran. We’d love to see the Arran Cheese Company take a stall.” There are also plans for a £2m watersports centre, next door to the port; while a steering group is looking to build an outdoor gym, yoga facility and skate park on Barassie beach.
“Troon has so much to offer the people of Arran,” Read continues. “We know, of course, that it’s their ferry, their link to the mainland. We know they will enjoy a day out in Troon. There is so much happening here, they can stay in a hotel for the weekend if they chose to.”
Is there a sense of quiet confidence in Troon about winning the ferry service? “It’s more that the people here have confidence in Troon. We have such great facilities. A lot of residents commute to Glasgow; if we weren’t commuter-friendly, nobody would live here.”
The harbour has a “huge” 900-space car-park, Mrs Read says, and ABP is proposing a free shuttle bus that will run from the terminal entrance and loop through the town to the railway station, where trains will run to Glasgow every 15 minutes. “The campaign makes it clear that whatever decision is made by the transport minister, we will respect that. But we know, from all the facts that ABP have given us, that our port is far superior [to Ardrossan’s] and that it will result in 75 per cent fewer cancellations.” ABP says its north-facing harbour shelters the ferry terminal, allowing vessels “to berth in most conditions”.
Across on Arran, there’s recognition that the entrance to Ardrossan harbour needs to be upgraded. The community council unanimously supports the retention of Ardrossan, “conditional on the appropriate infrastructure improvements to accommodate both the existing vessel and the new vessel due to come to our route in 2018”. Just last week, Arran Ferry Committee said Ardrossan was the best option for travellers’ convenience and costeffectiveness. (In response, ABP told The Herald Magazine: “Troon is better value for the taxpayer. Troon is more reliable. Above all, Troon is better for Arran.”)
SHEILA Gilmore, executive director of VisitArran, says: “The board of VisitArran are unanimously in favour of Ardrossan, but it is all pending improvements being done – we want to see the harbour area being improved.
“But we would certainly hope to retain the ferry service to Ardrossan, given that it’s a shorter, quicker crossing, so it will be a cheaper crossing. If the ferry goes down to Troon, we don’t have the same public transport links.
“It is easy to say there will be shuttle buses, and trains every 30 minutes, and that’s great, but personally … I have family with a baby, and my daughter doesn’t have a car, and she certainly wouldn’t want to get off the boat, to get on and off a shuttle bus, and then on to a train. Ardrossan is fairly seamless [in public transport].
“If the ferry goes to Troon, there would be a danger that we would have fewer crossings. It would be a longer crossing, and even if each one is 10-15 minutes longer, at the end of the day we could have fewer sailings because of maritime working time regulations.
“There are really silly arguments that people are putting up for Troon – “it’s a much nicer town’. That’s irrelevant from our point of view, as VisitArran is asking people to come to Arran.
“Ultimately, I think the port of choice would be Ardrossan. I can’t see a reason for it not being Ardrossan. There are probably mixed views [on Arran] but the majority of businesses and frequent travellers would stick with Ardrossan.
“I put out an email to roughly 200 VisitArran businesses every week. I said the board would support Ardrossan and if anyone felt strongly about that to get back to me. Just one came back, saying Troon would be better; another said we should keep our options open.”
She added: “I also think we need to consider the future of the town of Ardrossan itself which is in North Ayrshire – our own authority. Having the same council at both ends of the route is conducive to improving services for both islanders and residents within mainland North Ayrshire too.”
Back over the water in Saltcoats, Rev Currie speaks of the deprivation in North Ayrshire in general and the Three Towns in particular. “That would be one of the reasons for saying, ‘This isn’t like, we’ve got four big factories here and one of them is going to close.’ This [losing the ferry] would have a major impact.”
He adds: “I work from home. I’m looking out from my study window and I can see the Ardrossan ferry, right now. I don’t want that view to change, but I’m not just being selfish about it. The whole point is, I know what that symbolises for the community.”