Ferry infrastructure at Gourock, Dunoon and Kilcreggan on agenda

A new working group of three government bodies is looking at infrastructure for ferries in Gourock and Dunoon – with Kilcreggan potentially being affected as well.

Transport Scotland, CMAL and CalMac are all part of the new body, a meeting next week will hear.

CMAL – Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd – owns Gourock pier, but the Dunoon and Kilcreggan piers are both owned by Argyll and Bute Council.

The council’s policy lead for roads and amenity services Roddy McCuish said in a brief update to members: “Transport Scotland has intimated to council officers that a working group will be set up – Transport Scotland, CMAL and CalMac – to consider redevelopment of the marine infrastructure at both Gourock and Dunoon – with possible impact on Kilcreggan too.”

In 2012, when huge controversy surrounded SPT’s decision to cut costs by entrusting Kilcreggan’s ferry to Clydelink, both SPT and local councillors repeatedly said pontoons at Kilcreggan, Gourock and Dunoon could be the solution.

The feasibility study cost nearly £20,000 but was kept secret and only released after a five-month battle using Freedom of Information – it said pontoons would cost £0.5m in Kilcreggan and £1.45m in Dunoon.

The Gourock pontoons would cost £1.14m – but the Kempock Street Bay site was thought unsuitable unless another £3.5m was spent on building a breakwater.

The Scottish Government paid half the £19,961.21 cost of the study, with the rest being shared between SPT, Argyll Ferries, CMAL and Inverclyde and Argyll and Bute councils.

All the bodies paying for the study are publicly funded; the study has never been published anywhere other than on this website.

Argyll Ferries and CalMac are both subsidiaries of David MacBrayne Ltd, which like CMAL is a publicly-owned private company of which the Scottish Government is the only shareholder.

Mr McCuish’s report also says that work to ‘top-up’ rock armour at the concrete breakwater in Dunoon are now likely to take place next year.

The contract has not yet been awarded but the council expects the works to be ‘extensive’, using up to 10,000 tonnes of rock.