We are sailing...

Calmac have been in town recently consulting with community representatives on the new Lochboisdale - Mallaig winter ferry service and the Lochboisdale – Oban winter timetable. 

A press release was issued stating that a meeting was held with a local councillor, fishermen, the Outer Hebrides Commerce Group (OHCG), Storas Uibhist, and Lochboisdale Community Councillors. Many of those mentioned have spent years campaigning for the introduction of a Lochboisdale-Mallaig service and should be commended for their hard work and perseverance. I am confused, however, by the mention of Lochboisdale Community Councillors (LCC). 

There are no contact details for LCC on the council website and the last minutes or mention I have seen from them is from May 2012. The other community councils all feature on the CnES website and there are details of upcoming elections and previous results. So why have LCC been included and who are the Lochboisdale Community Councillors who were present at the meeting?

If the LCC is up and running again then it would be great to hear about it and find out who is involved and what they are doing for the community. It would also be interesting to know when they plan to hold their next election.

Moving on to the proposed timetables and things are sounding pretty good. Although I have never really been a fan of getting up for a 6am departure, it does mean that the service will coincide with public transport to and from Mallaig and you can be in Inverness for lunch (or Glasgow for a late lunch). The return leg is proposed to leave Mallaig at 6pm, which will also link up with public transport, and opens up the opportunity to go to Fort William for the day and be home in your own bed that night. (Why go to Fort William for a day I hear you ask? They have a MacDonald’s, a Morrisons, a Boots, and a WH Smith – it is the Buchanan Galleries to our Savoy Centre).

Calmac has also proposed an additional sailing from Lochboisdale and Castlebay to Oban, bringing it up to five sailings a week. If they could just link it up with public transport in Oban and expand the LB-Mallaig service to the summer (and add some more sailings) then everything would be just perfect.