GOING THE extra mile can often bring benefits beyond the actual effort expended.
That would certainly be the case for the 33 residents of the island of Kerrera, off Oban. In this case, it is a mile of road that would make a huge difference to their lives.
Argyll and Bute Council is preparing a funding bid to the Treasury's Coastal Communities Fund for a road that will link the two ends of the island for the first time.
There is no vehicle road link between the north and middle of Kerrera. In effect this results in two separate communities, divided between the north and south of the island. About half of the 33 residents live at the north end of the island, where Oban Marina is located. The other half of the population is in the south, served by the nation's smallest car ferry, with the capacity for just one vehicle.
Residents view the provision of the road as a lifeline link due to concerns over access for emergency services and medical staff.
The planned route will require the permission of four landowners, and all have indicated their support. Such unity is commendable. It is to be hoped it will soon take on a more tangible form.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article