Ministers commit to Ardrossan for Arran ferry route if they can buy port

Ardrossan will be reinstated as the mainland port for Arran’s principal ferry link if the Scottish Government’s plans to buy the port are successful, Transport Scotland has said.

The confirmation follows widespread concern in the North Ayrshire town that the CalMac service might not be switched back from Troon permanently because of the need for a major upgrade to accommodate the new Glen Sannox ferry.

Caledonian Isles, top, manoeuvering in Ardrossan harbour | John Devlin/The Scotsman

Sailings to Brodick are due to resume from Ardrossan when repairs to Caledonian Isles are completed at the end of May.

However, Glen Sannox, and its sister vessel Glen Rosa, which will not be completed until at least September, are due to take over the Brodick service, and Ardrossan’s berths are too small for them.

A taskforce spearheading the planned redevelopment has still to agree a scheme despite being set up eight years ago.

Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop announced in February she hoped to accelerate the process by the Scottish Government buying the harbour from Peel Ports Group, and transferring it to state-run Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (Cmal), which also owns CalMac’s ferries.

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Peel Ports has been criticised for Ardrossan’s poor state, which has forced the closure of one of the two berths, preventing ferries from using the harbour in certain wind conditions. However, it said it had spent millions of pounds on maintenance.

Announcing the port bid, Ms Hyslop went only as far as saying: “We all absolutely understand people and communities’ views in favour of retaining Ardrossan as the mainland port and remain committed to ensuring the Arran ferry service is fit for the future.”

The cabinet secretary said after the taskforce’s latest meeting on Thursday that the Scottish Government “remains fully committed to the future of Ardrossan harbour.”

Transport Scotland later confirmed this was so the port would be able to continue to operate the Brodick ferry, but it stressed that was reliant on ministers taking over the harbour.

Its spokesperson said: “The discussions with stakeholders [at the taskforce] were about the future mainland port for Arran and the current focus being commercial discussions on the purchase of Ardrossan for that purpose.”

Ms Hyslop said: “This Government remains fully committed to the future of Ardrossan harbour and as discussions progress it is still our intention to utilise the funding for a potential purchase from our 2025-26 budget.”

“I recognise the desire from the local community to understand when works on Ardrossan harbour will begin and what those works will be and how they will be scheduled, but such a timeline can only be reasonably established and published on actual purchase and transfer of control of the port.

“There is a requirement for due diligence and agreement of terms between Peel Ports Group and Cmal before any change of ownership could be confirmed. These negotiations are still ongoing, and all parties continue to act in good faith.

Bill Calderwood, secretary of the official Arran Ferry Committee, which Ms Hyslop also met on Thursday, said: “We were reassured us of the Scottish Government’s commitment to the future of Ardrossan as our primary route.”