WHAT THE PAPERS SAY…..

West Highland Free Press, 16 April….

EDITORIAL

The Glenelg-Kylerhea ferry is not a lifeline service in the strictest sense of the term. But Glenelg and Arnisdale is now quite properly recognised as a Community at the Edge. They are isolated townships, rich in beauty and heritage and people, but in danger of being neglected.

Their Ferry to Kylerhea is, in that context, vital. Just by virtue of being a surviving sea-crossing, let alone the oldest surviving sea-crossing, it has a proven appeal to visitors, which in turn brings seasonal tourist income to the glen. It provides a traditional connection with its neighbouring communities on Skye. It offers work in a place so small and precarious that every single job is valuable.

And now the sad truth is – as Murdo MacKenzie and now Roddy MacLeod have recognised all too well-the wrong private operator would either bankrupt or asset-strip or sink the thing within a year.

Roddy MacLeod has borne the burden of running in competition with a subsidised Skye Bridge. His successor may, at some point in the future, have to live with a toll-free Skye Bridge. The most secure future imaginable for this tenacious local service would be in the care of an accountable, responsible and committed community body.

The people to do the job are obviously there. It is now up to the authorities to give them the means.

Sunday Times, 11 April…

GLENELG FERRY FIGHTS TO STAY AFLOAT

....Pete Irvine, author of Scotland the Best, agrees that the ferry is an irreplaceable asset. “It is one of my favourite journeys in Scotland; the drive through the glen, coffee at Glenelg Candles and the little ferry is the best way to go to Skye,“ he believes

“The Bridge is so dull. People want something mystical, they want to think of the words of the song and go over the sea to Skye. You don’t get any of that from the Bridge, but the ferry gives you the full feeling of travelling to Skye.”

For his part, the ferry’s owner, MacLeod, is keen to help the community take charge. “I can’t think of a better way for the ferry to be run,” he says, “but by the people who use it, with it’s future in their hands.”

West Highland Free Press, 9 April….

GLENELG FERRY BUY-OUT MAY BE ON THE CARDS

…Responding to a view that a ferry buy-out was unlikely to receive assistance from the Land Fund, Eddie Stiven [chairman of the Steering Group, Initiative at the Edge projects] said: ”We can but try. We did have a previous project which didn’t get help from them, the purchase of a forest at Glen Beag [one of the glens in Glenelg] so it is no huge surprise. We’ll just have to soldier on.

“There is a strong argument that it should be classified with land. It is an asset which we want to retain and control within the community. It is important to the community in all sorts of ways….”

West Highland Free Press, 12 March…

COMMUNITY COULD TAKE OVER LIFELINE FERRY

….Mr MacLeod said that traffic had declined since the Scottish Executive started subsidising tolls on the Skye Bridge.

“Traffic was really good between 1997 and 1999,” he said, “But the Skye Bridge Company started offering concessionary tickets and then the Executive gave them some tax concessions, which was really a subsidy to the Bridge Company. That has damaged us because our costs keep rising and we cannot keep our fares level.”

He explanded [this is a new verb for ferry masters invented by the Free Press] that he had tried unsuccessfully to win subsidy from the Executive but Transport Minister Nicol Stephen had made it clear that he would not subsidise a private operator…..