Highland ferry link should be free, insist locals

A FRAGILE Highland community has launched a campaign for a free ferry after a third fare hike in just 12 months.

Protestors on the Nether Lochaber slipway yesterday. Picture Iain ?Ferguson

The Highland Council-owned Corran Ferry operates on Loch Linnhe in west Lochaber and is the second busiest sailing in Scotland, with 290,000 vehicles and half a million passengers a year.

But campaigners have hit out at the latest price rise, introduced yesterday, which has seen fares increase by an average of almost 25 per cent in the past year.

The ferry is used by communities in Ardgour, Morvern and Ardnamurchan. It is also used by people and businesses on Mull, who first travel to the mainland on the Fishnish-Lochaline ferry.

The Corran Ferry and Fishnish-Lochaline services also offer tourists an alternative to the Oban to Mull ferry.

Six community councils have joined forces in a protest to the fares increase, setting up FC Corran (Free Crossing for Corran). They are seeking the complete removal of fares on the lifeline public service.

Group convener Tony Boyd, chairman of Ardgour Community Council, said: “We are totally fed-up with the constant increase in prices.

“The route should be treated like bridge linking trunk roads across the country – like the Erskine, Forth Road and Skye bridges – and should be free of charge.”

The campaign has attracted widespread support, with more than 800 “likes” on the FC Corran Facebook page in just 24 hours.

Mr Boyd added: “The 25 per cent average price rise in ferry fares in the past year is more than our communities and businesses can withstand.

“We are dealing with real issues of rural deprivation, declining population, fuel poverty and social inequality, and the businesses that sustain our communities are likewise suffering.

“The cost of fares on a service that we value and appreciate is now having a visible and adverse effect on the quality of life in the peninsulas.

“It’s time Highland Council met their responsibilities in standing up for communities in the remote parts of the rural Highlands.”

The latest inflationary increase means the short crossing between Nether Lochaber and Ardgour will now cost £7.90 for a single car, up from the previous £7.60. Last year it was £7.

Money raised from the fares is used to pay for the upkeep of two ferries, the MV Corran and a reserve vessel, Maid of Glencoul, and the piers. About three years ago major repairs had to be made to the slipway at Nether Lochaber after the powerful propulsion of the MV Corran caused damage to concrete.

The local authority claims it is having to increase the fares to bridge the gap between the income generated from fares and the cost of running the ferry.

Income falls £173,000 short of the annual running costs of around £1.3 million.

Campaigners gathered yesterday for a mock ribbon-cutting ceremony for a fictional underwater crossing which they say would be free of charge if on land. Mr Boyd said: “Introducing the new charges on April Fool’s Day is really a joke.”

FC Corran hope to take inspiration from the successful campaign to have the Skye Bridge tolls abolished, and have the support of Robbie the Pict, a central figure of that crusade.

He said the new charges were a “social injustice” and claimed the local communities were being kept “financial prisoners”.

FC Corran spokeswoman Mary Anne Kennedy said: “We aim to campaign with the same wit and good humour that SKAT (Skye and Kyle Against Tolls) did with the Skye bridge, while looking to a serious end game of a solution to a problem which aggravates rural deprivation, jeopardises businesses and undermines fragile communities.”

Lochaber MP Charles Kennedy said: “This is a campaign driven by a desire for social justice.”