Comments on: Argyll and Bute Council success with 16th June start of flights between Oban, Colonsay, Coll and Tiree http://forargyll.com/2008/06/16th-june-to-see-start-of-flights-between-oban-colonsay-coll-and-tiree/ Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:34:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Lynda http://forargyll.com/2008/06/16th-june-to-see-start-of-flights-between-oban-colonsay-coll-and-tiree/#comment-283 Lynda Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:55:37 +0000 http://forargyll.com/?p=757#comment-283 So many interesting insights in this post - the immediate use of the new airstrip by private light aircraft; children getting home from school at weekends; the conscious marriage of the new facilities with their island environment; the sheer informed realism of the assessment of the value to the island of this new service; the economic benefit that the project has already delivered - before scheduled flights begin on Monday; the degree of remoteness of the Colonsay community; the insistence on the right to aspire. This captures the essence of a very specific place. So many interesting insights in this post - the immediate use of the new airstrip by private light aircraft; children getting home from school at weekends; the conscious marriage of the new facilities with their island environment; the sheer informed realism of the assessment of the value to the island of this new service; the economic benefit that the project has already delivered - before scheduled flights begin on Monday; the degree of remoteness of the Colonsay community; the insistence on the right to aspire. This captures the essence of a very specific place.

]]> By: fiach http://forargyll.com/2008/06/16th-june-to-see-start-of-flights-between-oban-colonsay-coll-and-tiree/#comment-281 fiach Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:55:00 +0000 http://forargyll.com/?p=757#comment-281 Yes, congratulations to our elected representatives, and also to all those who worked to see the project to fruition. Island residents believed - rightly or wrongly - that some families were unwilling to become resident (or in other cases to remain) because their children were unable to get home from school at weekends. This was the fundamental reason which led to the request for an air-service, although of course the desirability of such factors as social-inclusion, economic stimulation and access to professional services became apparent during subsequent research for the business plan. Over the years, and even now, there have been critics of this project. Such critics should ask whether the existing ferry service should have been the limit to which Colonsay can aspire, bearing in mind that this is the most remote community in Great Britain. (The criteria for a community being a place with a shop, a church and a school - no such community in GB is further from its nearest neighbour than is Colonsay). If one accepts that at some future date additional communication might be desirable, should it be by additional sailings of a £20m ship and a crew of 30? Or does it make sense to use an 8-seater aircraft? Remember that, in the rest of the world, aircraft were initially used to access remote communities, as in Australia, Canada, Africa and India... it is surely perverse that in UK there were regular flights between Birmingham and London before such provision reached the most disadvantaged location. It should also be remembered that very specific criteria were outlined by residents in Colonsay (and presumably in Coll), concerning the environmental impact - no overhead wires, careful drainage to ensure unchanged flora, modest building, single-track access etc. All these criteria have been met. The new facility is properly licensed and regulated by the CAA; this was obviously important to the parents of all the children concerned. As it happens, the new tarmac runway and licensed field has proved attractive and private aircraft now visit the island. Numbers will never be great, but some days there are four or five - roughly as many planes as there are yachts visiting the harbour. Some or all of these visitors may well choose to come for a longer stay in the future. The aerodrome in Colonsay is subject to Visual Flight Rules - this is exactly as was always envisaged. Medical evacuations by helicopter can be undertaken in the dark, with the assistance of Colonsay coastguard - indeed, in emergency even fixed-wing aircraft have landed in the past (with help of flares). There was never a plan for night-time operations and it should be noted that even our ferries do not normally berth in Colonsay during hours of darkness, nor in fog. One imagines that very few people would wish to fly except "when visibility is sufficiently good". In the coming weeks, there will be more detail of scholar flights for the seven pupils from Colonsay and (we believe) seventeen from Coll; and ancillary services (ground transportation etc.) will be developed. The new facility has already brought considerable economic benefit to the community in Colonsay and one hopes that this is just the beginning of the story. Yes, congratulations to our elected representatives, and also to all those who worked to see the project to fruition. Island residents believed - rightly or wrongly - that some families were unwilling to become resident (or in other cases to remain) because their children were unable to get home from school at weekends. This was the fundamental reason which led to the request for an air-service, although of course the desirability of such factors as social-inclusion, economic stimulation and access to professional services became apparent during subsequent research for the business plan.

Over the years, and even now, there have been critics of this project. Such critics should ask whether the existing ferry service should have been the limit to which Colonsay can aspire, bearing in mind that this is the most remote community in Great Britain. (The criteria for a community being a place with a shop, a church and a school - no such community in GB is further from its nearest neighbour than is Colonsay). If one accepts that at some future date additional communication might be desirable, should it be by additional sailings of a £20m ship and a crew of 30? Or does it make sense to use an 8-seater aircraft? Remember that, in the rest of the world, aircraft were initially used to access remote communities, as in Australia, Canada, Africa and India… it is surely perverse that in UK there were regular flights between Birmingham and London before such provision reached the most disadvantaged location.

It should also be remembered that very specific criteria were outlined by residents in Colonsay (and presumably in Coll), concerning the environmental impact - no overhead wires, careful drainage to ensure unchanged flora, modest building, single-track access etc. All these criteria have been met.

The new facility is properly licensed and regulated by the CAA; this was obviously important to the parents of all the children concerned. As it happens, the new tarmac runway and licensed field has proved attractive and private aircraft now visit the island. Numbers will never be great, but some days there are four or five - roughly as many planes as there are yachts visiting the harbour. Some or all of these visitors may well choose to come for a longer stay in the future.

The aerodrome in Colonsay is subject to Visual Flight Rules - this is exactly as was always envisaged. Medical evacuations by helicopter can be undertaken in the dark, with the assistance of Colonsay coastguard - indeed, in emergency even fixed-wing aircraft have landed in the past (with help of flares). There was never a plan for night-time operations and it should be noted that even our ferries do not normally berth in Colonsay during hours of darkness, nor in fog. One imagines that very few people would wish to fly except “when visibility is sufficiently good”.

In the coming weeks, there will be more detail of scholar flights for the seven pupils from Colonsay and (we believe) seventeen from Coll; and ancillary services (ground transportation etc.) will be developed. The new facility has already brought considerable economic benefit to the community in Colonsay and one hopes that this is just the beginning of the story.

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