An island community has claimed a small but significant victory in their campaign for improved transport links.
Ferry operator CalMac has reinstated a winter service that was withdrawn for the second year in a row following a fierce backlash from islanders that was highlighted by The Herald.
Colonsay is normally served by three sailings a week from Oban and one from Kennacraig, via Islay, on a Saturday.
Islanders were told by CalMac that they would lose five Monday services over the winter months, for the second year running, which equates to a 25% reduction in services over 21 weeks.
The ferry operator said the service losses were unavoidable due to having a single vessel, the Loch Frisa, on the Mull run while the Isle of Mull is redeployed or in dry dock.
READ MORE: Islanders demand £33,000 a day in ferry service loss compensation
The decision prompted an angry response from residents who say they are already among the poorest served Hebridean isles for transport links, including flights to the mainland.
David Hobhouse, chairman of the Colonsay Lifeline Transport Group, wrote to Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop to demand a community package of £33,000 for the "financial, reputational and emotional damage done to our community."
Islanders have now been told that the Monday services will be reinstated due to "adjusted vessel deployment".
Mr Hobhouse said: " We think we should at least acknowledge it, and praise them for listening to the hours of lobbying we have done.
"However while thanking them and Transport Scotland for turning this around we still have to ask the question why, after last year's adverse reaction to the same plan, they thought they could get away with it again?
"A lot of the damage will have already been done such as being unable to get tradesmen over for January and reputational damage marking Colonsay out as even harder to get to.
"We will go on making the case that this can't be allowed to happen again."
READ MORE: 'Our community is dying': CalMac cuts threatening 'Jewel of the Hebrides'
He said the community has asked for a risk assessment to be carried out which would allow ferries to dock on the islands of Colonsay and Coll in darkness, which has been highlighted by the ferry operator as a barrier for increased flexibility in sailings.
He said: "If they could overcome this it would introduce a huge level of flexibility in scheduling and also their options for relief sailings.
"We have an impressive lighting scheme on the Colonsay pier, which seems to light up for three or four hours every evening, but there are no ferries here to see it.
"We have a roundhead at the seaward end to allow vessels to swing around and reverse in, but they seem reluctant to use it.
He added: "We will continue our campaign for an integrated ferry and air service, but are still waiting for a reply from the transport minister to our previous correspondence.
"Any future ferry contract has to look at the whole not just the actual ferry in isolation.
"We would rather have less summer services and an all-year-round commitment to actually serve the communities that employ them."
Finlay MacRae, Head of Operations for CalMac, said: “Due to adjusted vessel deployment, we have been able to reinstate Monday sailings to and from Colonsay.
“Cancelling a sailing is always an extremely difficult decision and we appreciate that the loss of a number of Monday services during the winter timetable was proving difficult for the Colonsay community.
“The current winter timetable is one of the most complex and challenging that CalMac has ever had to produce, with multiple vessels required to cover single routes.
"This timetable was produced following close consultation with local communities and while we are using the most suitable vessels for each route, periods of reduced service are unavoidable, as we have stretched the fleet to its absolute limits.
“We will continue to work closely with communities and to address any concerns they have with their ferry service.”
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