Hovercraft floated as ferry link shuts down

A HOVERCRAFT has been suggested as a way of providing a lifeline link to a remote part of Scotland while a ferry service is due to be closed.

Plans to shut down the Corran ferry for four weeks this spring have been postponed while other options are examined.

One possibility being considered is using a hovercraft on Loch Linnhe to serve communities on the remote Ardnamurchan and Morvern peninsulas.

Highland Council proposed suspending sailings of the ferry for at least four weeks in May and June while essential repairs costing 650,000 were carried out to a slipway.

But the authority told a public meeting this week it is to delay the work until at least the autumn after complaints from affected communities.

The ten-minute ferry journey provides a link from Nether Lochaber, near the A82 Fort William-Oban road, and closure would mean drivers facing a detour of 37 miles on the single-track A861 road around Loch Linnhe and Loch Eil.

Council leader Dr Michael Foxley said the hovercraft idea was suggested by a member of the community at the meeting: "It was a suggestion from the floor and it will be looked at like other suggestions. We have said all along we will seriously investigate any suggestion or proposal.

"People realise that this is a major piece of work and I hope we have got over that we are seriously looking at all the alternatives and aiming to keep disruption to a minimum."

Other possible options include a passenger-only ferry at Corran, a passenger shuttle at Camusnagual, near Fort William, or a temporary service from Ballachulish.

The council is also to conduct a travel survey to identify the most effective measures to ease the disruption, should the ferry service be suspended.

Alan Thomson, secretary of Sunart Community Council, said it is hoped work can be done without the ferry closing.