The song lamenting Kilcreggan’s chaotic ferry service has been published in full online – a week before the issue is debated in the Scottish Parliament next week.
With lyrics by Gracey Flair to the tune of The Song of the Clyde, the Peninsula Choir performance was filmed on Kilcreggan pier last week by Dave Dunbar.
It was put together by a team including local councillor Barbara Morgan and John McMurtrie after months of problems surrounding the Rosneath Peninsula’s ferry link with Gourock.
Operators Clydelink started a new £320,000 contract with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) on April 1 but since then the Island Princess has twice been impounded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, as well as suffering repeated breakdowns – most recently, the ferry was out of action for almost a fortnight.
The serious problems found by MCA inspectors were revealed here in July.
With residents depending on the ferry service to reach work, healthcare and college education, MSP Jackie Baillie launched a petition which has been signed by hundreds of people, while church minister Rev Christine Murdoch is planning a public meeting in January.
SPT has invited tenders for a new contract – but this would not take effect until next July, and embattled commuters are calling for earlier action.
Next Thursday (November 30) Ms Baillie has secured a debate on the issue at the Scottish Parliament – she said: “This is a great opportunity to put pressure on SPT and the Scottish Government for more robust action to improve the local service.”
Her motion, supported by Labour, Conservative and Green MSPs Maurice Corry, Ross Greer, James Kelly, David Stewart, Rhoda Grant, Neil Findlay and Jackson Carlaw, reads:
That the Parliament understands that the Gourock–Kilcreggan ferry service has been affected by unprecedented levels of disruption since the contract with the current operator, Clydelink, was renewed by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT); believes that services have been suspended, often for days at a time, due to technical faults with the vessel or following failed Maritime and Coastguard Agency spot inspections; understands that, on several occasions, capacity has been reduced to a maximum of 12 passengers due to a lack of appropriately qualified staff; believes that the unreliability has become particularly acute since June 2017, with the ferry being suspended for several days each month, causing severe disruption for travellers and businesses in both the Dumbarton and Greenock and Inverclyde constituencies; understands that SPT has agreed to retender the contract to secure a more reliable operator until responsibility for the route is transferred to Transport Scotland, and notes the calls on the Scottish Government to make progress with the transfer.
Leave a Reply