Oban Bay clarification

We write jointly in response to the letter, published in your January 13 edition, from the chairman of the Argyll and Bute Harbour Board concerning a Harbour Authority for Oban Bay and Approaches.

We are delighted that the Harbour Board has recognised the need for action and agree that safety is the priority. We look forward to taking part in the preparatory work to facilitate the development of a Municipal (Council-run) Port, which the Harbour Board agreed on December 2, while recognising the need to continue ‘exploration of the future development of a Trust Port’.

We would, however, point out that Councillor Colville’s clarification fails to address the principal issues raised in the letter from OCC: consultation, timescales and finance. In putting forward the amended proposal during the Harbour Board meeting there was no opportunity for consultation with stakeholders, including local elected representatives, local businesses, or the Community Council. Councillor Colville asserts that the Municipal Port option will deliver a new Harbour Authority in ‘the shortest time possible’ but offers no timescale. With council support, as intended by the December 2019 Harbour Board, the Trust Port could have been in operation in time for the summer of 2023.

Councillor Colville states that ‘managing the bay will incorporate cost’. Trust Ports make surpluses which they reinvest in their harbour and community. If Councillor Colville is referring to initial setting-up costs then these should have been indicated, in broad terms at least, in the report. The setting-up costs of the Trust Port are detailed in the proposal.

Trust Ports in Scotland are driving local development – for example, in Stornoway, Mallaig and Ullapool. Run by independent, suitably qualified and experienced trustees, these ports are working collaboratively with their local councils, supported by external funding from government and private sources, to reshape their harbours and reinvigorate their economies. Planning for the development of a Trust Port for Oban, which remains the best option, will continue to be worked on. In due course the Oban Harbour Trust should take its place in developing a vision for Oban Harbour in 2030 or 2040 just as other Harbour Trusts are doing.

Why Argyll and Bute Council seems so unwilling to work towards the same objective is a mystery which Councillor Colville’s letter does nothing to clarify.

Signed on behalf of Oban Community Council (Marri Molloy), Oban Bay Stakeholders Group (Ross Wilson), and Oban Community Harbour Development Association (John MacAlister)