FOLLOWING the recent bid by Associated British Ports at Troon and the ensuing debate about an alternative mainland port for the Isle of Arran ferry service (Letters, December 7 & 8) North Ayrshire Council convened a public meeting in Brodick to put Ardrossan’s case.
Unfortunately, in a packed hall the concerns of Arran residents and businesses were not heard, as the mainland based speakers and political representatives had not come to listen, they came to talk at the audience.
But a director of North Ayrshire Council, an MSP, an MP and Peel Ports Ltd had not come to talk about how they were going fix Ardrossan harbour. They came to tell us about £100m investment in regeneration of the Ardrossan hinterland, the Coastal Corridor and Ardrossan’s North Shore. To talk about poverty, deprivation and CalMac jobs, which in any case would not be lost they would merely be relocated to Troon. They talked about how they had been working on all of this for 10 years and that none of this was a reaction to the Troon bid. They lectured about how the rich people of Troon didn’t need the ferry business and that South Ayrshire Council would slash public services on Arran - all this, ironically from the very same people who are about to close Arran’s public toilets.
They came to talk about how bad Troon would be. It was not a pro-Ardrossan meeting, it was an anti-Troon meeting. They filibustered. They reduced the time for debate and an opportunity for them to listen and learn to 50 per cent of the allotted 90 minutes. Their presentations were overlong and repetitive and their responses to questions were aggressive and at times threatening. It must be hard to listen at the same time as you are shouting.
They played down the number of ferry cancellations to just seven per cent, which does not sound like a lot in those terms but equates to more than20 days of lost sailings per year.
If they had come to persuade Arran residents and businesses that Ardrossan’s resilience, as an operational port would be significantly improved, then they failed spectacularly. Not one substantive detail was given.
Neil Arthur,
Broombrae, Kilpatrick, Isle of Arran.
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