A community in the south of Skye says it will not accept under any circumstances ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne’s plans to deploy a smaller slower vessel on the crossing to Mallaig.
The Sleat Transport Forum, established last year to address transport issues affecting the community on the Sleat Peninsula, is deeply concerned by the proposed “downgrading” of the Mallaig to Armadale ferry service this summer.
Members fear it will hit the vital tourist season.
They say the ferry Coruisk was built specifically for this route with a capacity for 40 cars and a speed of 14 knots with good passenger facilities. But it has been earmarked for the Oban to Craignure (Mull) route to meet the expected significant increase in traffic as a result of fares being reduced by Road Equivalent Tariff (RET).
The Coruisk is to be replaced with a smaller ferry Lochinvar which can carry 22 cars with a speed of nine knots with what the forum sees as inadequate passenger facilities. This will be supplemented by runs by the larger ‘Lord of the Isles’ in between serving Lochboisdale (South Uist) from Mallaig.
The forum says that importantly the Lochinvar will not provide the capacity for coaches, on which many tourism businesses in Skye heavily rely.
The forum is calling is calling for an urgent meeting with CalMac management to review and revise the proposals.
A spokesman for CalMac, which leases both ferries from the publicly owned Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (Cmal), said:
"We are aware of the views of local people around the proposed summer timetable for Mallaig and Armadale and are currently looking at a range of amendments that will provide a service to best suit the needs of both visitors and islanders. These will then be presented to Transport Scotland for consideration."
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