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.

Almost 5,000 people sign petition to postpone of Uig Harbour closure

Skye Triangle
Ferry terminal in Uig on Skye. Picture by Sandy McCook/DCT Media.

Almost 5,000 people have signed a petition to postpone the temporary closure of Uig Harbour on Skye.

Massive upgrades are planned to take place between October 10 and March 27 which is expected to have a big impact on island communities.

The harbour provides the only direct route from Harris to the mainland, but all ferry sailings from Tarbert will be cancelled while construction work is carried out.

While CalMac ferry MV Hebrides will be used to operate a daily run between Lochmaddy and Ullapool, no service will be put in place for Tarbert.

Instead, passengers will have to travel via Stornoway and Ullapool for almost six months.

MV Hebrides leaving Uig.
MV Hebrides leaving Uig. Picture by Shutterstock.

Thousands of signatures

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (Cmal) is constructing a new 334ft dual fuel vessel to serve the Skye Traingle route, so improvements are being made at its three serving ports – Uig, Lochmaddy and Tarbert.

However, the vessel is currently sitting unfinished at the Ferguson Marine shipyard – and is not expected to be completed until next year.

Local businesses have previously raised concerns about the impact the closure will have on the economy.

Now, almost 5,000 locals have signed a petition, created by Councillor Grant Fulton, calling for a postponement to the project or for a temporary link to be put in place.

Former MP Brian Wilson is also involved in the campaign and warned the closure of the island’s “main artery” will be a “huge issue”.

‘Makes no sense’

“It gives time for something sensible to be devised. That’s the reason for saying postpone,” he said.

Speaking on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, Mr Wilson said: “Part of the problem here is that the CalMac fleet is in such a diminished condition, if you start messing about with any of the routes, then there’s knock on effects throughout the others.

“The particular problems are for Harris which would lose its direct connection, and the sailings would be via Stornoway, on a route that is already overbooked and not greatly reliable. Uist would lose a third of the freight coming into it.

“This is a huge issue in the islands. To close a pier to make way for work to make way for a ferry that doesn’t exist, and isn’t going to exists for another 18 months, makes no sort of sense at all.”

Postponement being considered

Alasdair Allan MSP
Alasdair Allan MSP.

MSP Alasdair Allan asked Nicola Sturgeon if a postponement would be possible during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.

In response, she said: “The transport minister is very aware of the concerns that communities have in relation to the planned Uig Harbour closure.

“This is a project that is ultimately led by Highland Council, but the transport minister has agreed, I understand, to meet with Alasdair Allan, in addition to meeting with the community board to discuss what further mitigations we might be able to support. ”

She added that a postponement is an option that continues to be considered, but comes with “considerable risks”.

Conversation