Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Argyll islands prepare for closure of ferry linkspans in coming months

Post Thumbnail

Two remote Argyll islands are preparing for major disruption to their ferry services as linkspans are replaced.

However, residents on Coll and Tiree are accentuating the positive about the essential work, despite their ferries being reduced to a passenger-only service supported by a freight run while it takes place.

Two public drop-in sessions have been arranged to share details of the operation and discuss the alternative service arrangements which will be put in place by CalMac.

The linkspan closure for Coll takes place on Monday, October 28 until Thursday, November 21. The Tiree linkspan will be out of service from Monday, February 24, until Tuesday, March 17 next year.

CalMac will operate a passenger-only service during the works, supplemented by a lift on/lift off freight service. Vehicles will not be transported during the linkspan closure.

Paula Smalley, a guest house owner on Coll, said: “CalMac and CMAL seem to be doing everything they can to minimise disruption.

“Obviously, there is going to be some disruption, we know that. However these are essential works. It is better they are planned and done rather than something goes wrong and we are left with nothing without warning.

“We have been told there is going to be a weekly freight boat. They have certainly given us plenty of notice and we can plan for it. There are obviously going to be some problems, but I have been here 20 years and it needs done.”

Robert Trythall of Tiree Community Council said: “We are quite relaxed on Tiree, as Coll is happening first.

“My understanding is they intend to put the support freight service out to tender. I have asked for information on the tender process and when they expect it will come to a conclusion. Are they going to run the same thing on Tiree as they do on Coll?

“We are still waiting for details about the freight service but we have months to go.”

A CalMac spokesman said: “We are currently in the process of finalising the freight service contract. We are at an advanced stage of the procurement tender process and should be in a position to communicate the temporary freight arrangements in the very near future.”

The Coll meeting will be held at An Cridhe, Coll Community Centre, on Monday, September 2. The Tiree meeting takes place at An Talla community hall on Tuesday, September 3. Both meetings will be held from 4pm to 7.30pm.