Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has reacted to the news that CalMac has chosen to remove the ferry service to South Uist as a result of further delays to MV Caledonian Isles returning to service.
CalMac’s decision followed a community consultation exercise which gave people about four hours to express a view. The unanimous view of the Uist and Barra Communities, the Comhairle, Elected Members, and our constituency MSP confirmed that it was unacceptable to again remove the South Uist service.
Options one and two from the CalMac options paper would have retained the Mallaig – Lochboisdale service while Option four offered a shared service to Oban operated by MV Isle of Mull. The preferred options for the communities across the Western Isles naturally would have been those that left our connections in place. Option 4 at least maintained some service to South Uist at the end of what has already been another summer season of heavy service disruption for that community. Instead maintaining two vessel services to Islay, Mull and Arran has been given priority by CalMac rather than maintaining services in the Western Isles. The option to redeploy MV Coruisk from Mallaig – Armadale did not even feature in the Options presented even though the Skye route is accepted as the lowest priority in CalMac’s own route prioritisation framework.
Reacting to the news the Comhairle Chair of Transport and Infrastructure Cllr Uisdean Robertson said,
“We are dismayed that the decision has again been taken to single out South Uist for loss of ferry services. We recognise the challenging hand CalMac has been dealt and no one wants to see another community suffer but leaving South Uist without a service again feels as if our community is again the go to for service cuts by CalMac. The Comhairle believe that there were options not tabled that would have maintained a level of service across all routes. We call on Ministers and CalMac to rethink this decision and ensure a service is maintained between Lochboisdale and the mainland.”