A new design for ‘Kilcreggan harbour’ which could preserve the character of the village’s historic pier has been put forward by community councillors.
A £9.3m design for a new pontoon and breakwater (below) is still thought to be Argyll and Bute Council’s preferred option to accommodate new 40-metre ferries planned for the Dunoon to Gourock route.
This caused huge controversy when it was revealed in January, partly due to fears that if the village’s B-listed Victorian pier was no longer in daily use it would be neglected by the council, as Helensburgh’s pier has been.
So with consultation on the development due to start soon Cove and Kilcreggan Community Council has asked for its own ‘hybrid’ solution to be among options given to the public.
Initial drawing by James McLean show a new caisson or floating pontoon attached to the end of the current pier.
“We use the existing pier for pedestrian access,” he told last night’s community council meeting.
“There is a smaller bridge to the docking pontoons, which need to have a freeboard of three metres.
“This will remove all the ship loadings from the existing pier which will help preserve it.
“The new docking facility can be built sufficiently far away from the existing pier to allow it to be used during construction.
“The existing pier continues to provide passenger access to and from the village, with the existing pierhead used as a passenger assembly point.
“This I thought provided a more economic and practical hybrid option which would keep the character of the pier intact.”
He said this scheme would be far cheaper than that proposed by engineering consultants Mott MacDonald, and the savings could be used for ongoing maintenance of the pier.
A rise in sea level of 400mm by 2085 has to be built in to plans, but Mr McLean said a ramp could be added on the pier to cater for this.
One resident at the meeting said: “It feels like they have already made their decision.”
But community council chair Nick Davies said the council’s marine operations manager Scott Reid had stressed no decisions had been made on either the new vessels or the infrastructure, and that though ‘option 4A’ was still preferrd he was receptive to alternative solutions.
He added: “At the end of the day I think the most important thing is that we maintain the ferry link with Gourock.
“That does not mean that we necessary just lie down and accept the solution that is being proposed and the more that we can feed insensible and realistic alternatives.”
Kilcreggan resident Harry Cathcart said the cost of the council’s preferred option was ‘huge’, adding: “All the big ferries – Juno and Pioneer – came alongside our pier for years.
“We will lose the car park at the pier and we have no parking in the village anyway.
“We’ve got to say to ourselves – what do we get out of this?”
Read more: Cost of new ferries almost doubles in two years
Tom Walker, whose Save Kilcreggan Pier Facebook group now has over 900 members, suggested that the vessel design could be changed, or a replacement boat leased during planned servicing.
“Mott MacDonald talk about this being a suitable solution for London or Liverpool, which are not Victorian villages,” he added.
“The seawall would be 150 metres long, the width about 60 metres.
“That structure is huge and will trap all manner of rubbish, encourage rats in that corner.
“The gangplank is 100 metres long, the pontoon is three metres high.
“It is the urbanisation of the village – it will become an urban centre.”
Mr Davies said the council expected to start its public consultation next month – it would be online as with the current Dunoon consultation, and he did not know if there would be a face-to-face event.
But Sheelagh O’Reilly said the strategic case for the vessels needed to be made public by Transport Scotland and she criticised the Dunoon consultation- which has also been attacked by the council’s own elected members.
“In the current Dunoon consultation online there are gaps in the information that is available for the public to make their decision,” she said.
Ali Mills, who lives near the pier, criticised the design of the new ferries: “A lot of people like to go on the top of the boat and it’s one of my pleasures in life to look at the views and dolphins and so on.
“I know the boat they are proposing is enclosed with a tiny little bit at the back where you can go out, I don’t think a lot of people will be happy with that.”
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