Campsite owner ec-static after caravan finally arrives on site
Islay facing ‘meltdown’ with no ferry plan
Tobermory campsite owners Angus and Catriona Williams have thanked The Oban Times for helping end a ferry saga that was costing them thousands of pounds in lost takings.
The couple had been struggling to get their Steven Brown McCoo designer caravan over to Mull since they bought it from Argyll Holidays in February, and were at their wits’ end earlier this month when it was left stranded on Oban’s south pier racking up costs after more ferry cancellations.
Finally, after The Oban Times got involved and Mull & Iona Ferry Committee sent a letter to CalMac boss Robbie Drummond, the static got a sailing on Saturday, much to Mr and Mrs Williams’ relief.
CalMac blamed abnormal dimensions for the delays and cancellations saying it had taken “some additional planning” with vessel crews to find a way of transporting it to Mull.
“It was a tight fit but thanks to the ferry crew, the static finally made it. We’re just ecstatic about our static arriving,” said Mr Williams.
“It’s a shame it took so long and that it had to get to such a public level involving The Oban Times and the island ferry committee before CalMac got the job done. The ferry crew did a great job on
Saturday but I’ve still had no word of apology from the hierarchy,” he added.
Mr Williams contacted us in desperation when the artic lorry carrying his 38ft x 12ft static got stuck at the Oban pier after CalMac cancelled a sailing with just 30 minutes notice.
After days of waiting parked up at the pier, and at a haulage cost of £1,000 a day, Highland Holidays had to unload it in situ to free up the lorry for other work.
Highland Holidays director Chris McCready was so gutted for Mr Williams that he said his business would instead take the £3,000 hit instead of passing the cost on.
Mr Williams told us his campsite business had lost potentially £6,500 in bookings for the designer static that has a big following and should have been open to holidaymakers at Easter.
“We have missed out on bookings for this static since Easter. At least we can kickstart its season now but we’ve got some catching up to do if the current ferry fiasco lets us. I had one person wanting a refund recently because CalMac cancelled their booking while they were driving to Oban to get the Mull boat.”
Islay’s lifeline ferry service is facing “meltdown” in June if the island loses “50 per cent capacity” during the busy summer month, writes Sandy Neil. The island’s ferry committee issued the warning as it urged CalMac for a contingency plan.
Islay and Jura are set to lose MV Finlaggan on Sunday June 4 when she goes for a delayed drydock. “Fin” is due to be replaced by MV Hebridean Isles, but that ferry is still out of service after a fault in February. Islanders fear “Heb Isles” may not return in time.
That leaves them with just MV Isle of Arran during most of June, plus MV Alfred, hired by the Scottish Government for £1 million per month. But Alfred cannot dock at Kennacraig, Islay Community Council Ferry Committee says, and would have to sail from Campbeltown, adding hours to the journey time.
And then the MV Isle of Arran developed a problem...
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Dark clouds are gathering in Glencoe. Bitter clashes between differing mindsets of deer management objectives are ongoing.
From a deerstalker’s perspective, red deer are literally the life-blood of our fragile community. Whilst a part of what we do is selective culling, the bigger part is animal welfare and the humane management of an iconic species. Consequently, we love them dearly.
Deer management and habitat management are combined, but complex subjects. Therefore management must be a long, thought-out process. As the effects of a large cull at the hands of a “trust” begin to take hold, recent sweeping statements and assumptions show absolutely no compassion whatsoever to those most affected. One suggestion, that we might all find other means of living, sounded a little too similar to a bad laird offering crofting communities free tickets to Canada 200 years ago.
Areas of Scotland undoubtedly will have deer numbers that are too high, but on the other hand different areas are capable of sustaining different densities, just as with livestock. Whilst a density of 20-30 per square kilometre could rightly be considered as too high, anything under 10 is generally not.
For most of the year, red deer live in smaller groups. Whilst they are certainly hefted to certain areas, there are times of the year when they will migrate, most notably, during the rut, or in bad weather/winter.
Where I work, our densities in the east stand at four deer per km sq, and west is eight to nine per km sq. The population is closely monitored annually, and culls set accordingly.
This is under the 10 per km sq recommendation by the Deer Working Group, as commissioned by the Scottish Government. Much of this land, is above 1,000ft altitude.
Since the dawn of time, during periods of heavy snow these deer will congregate and migrate west and onto the land owned by the National Trust for Scotland. They have what we in deer management circles refer to as “wintering ground”. This is when, for a brief period, the densities will be much higher and browsing will occur. In times past, the grazing in the lower glen was also increased by the presence of 2,000 sheep.
If, in the long-term they succeed in getting the numbers down to the quoted figure of 100 deer, then that would have to mean this is the total population in the entire catchment area which is simply not enough to sustain neighbouring jobs. In truth, though, 100 deer focused on one small area for a few weeks of snow will still browse a substantial amount. So, in order to “re-generate” wintering ground successfully, the densities will need to be zero for the entire catchment area. Which is exactly why successful woodlands are fenced.
In the essence of being pragmatic, change in some areas, including woodland creation in the right environments, is necessary as we move into the future. However, this must be looked at from all angles; trees, wildlife, mitigation of climate change, but also people. We exist in a fragile time, where thousands of acres in which both people and wildlife currently thrive could become the most lush-looking deserts imaginable if we are not careful. We should consider the far-reaching effects of unproven concepts, which will eventually result in rural unemployment, far beyond the “project” sites.
So what of our neighbours across the moor, in the old broken homesteads of Glencoe? Personally, I find it sad that their hearths have long been cool and, as the late poet Sorley Maclean of Raasay wrote in his poem entitled Hallaig: “Their daughters and their sons, are a wood going up beside the burn”.
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