Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson, today assured the Clydeside towns of Dunoon in Argyll and Gourock in Inverclyde that the Scottish Government is pressing ahead with delivering a vehicle and passenger ferry service for the area.

The Minister said: ‘The (European) Commission has confirmed that public financing for the operation of ferry shipping services in Scotland is compatible with State aid rules. However, this was subject to the condition that we launch a transparent and non-discriminatory public tender for the operation of the Gourock-Dunoon route and that is what we are going to do’.

‘We have reiterated our commitment to this service on this route many times. The Commission has said the new service should be in place by June 2011 and therefore we are now moving to initiate an open and transparent public procurement process’.

Mr Stevenson told this morning’s meeting of community leaders that the Scottish Government will now launch the required public tender for the route on the following terms:

• the public service contract will cover a town-centre to town-centre ferry service with a six-year public service contract;
• the tender will allow for a subsidy for passenger traffic on this route (unlike the preceding tender);
• the current timetable restrictions will be removed;
• the winning bidder could provide an unrestricted commercial vehicle transport service in addition to a passenger service, subject to compliance with the State aid rules;
• CMAL have been asked by the Government to provisionally identify a suitable vessel for the route but under the EC rules the winning bidder may bring in its own vessels, replacing the old vessels currently operating on the route.

A word of caution: this is the Minister who assured Steven Purcell, Glasgow City Council Leader, that the controversial Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) was going ahead – just weeks before its cancellation was announced.

So while this is good news for Dunoon and Gourock, it might be wise to keep your fingers crossed behind your back.

Highlands & Islands MSP, Jamie McGrigor, who attended the meeting was glad that there was movement in the situation but disappointed at what he saw as a lack of specificity.

He says: ‘While it was good of the Minister to make the time to come to Dunoon, I was disappointed that nothing specific was revealed today in terms of the detailed specification of what would in fact be tendered. The Minister only reaffirmed that he was all for a vehicle and passenger services between the two town centres.

‘The fact is that there has been dithering, delay and procrastination on this issue under successive governments for 10 years and the people of Dunoon understandably want to see not just good intentions but the concrete details of what will be tendered. The people of Dunoon are fortunate to have two options of car ferries as well as the recent dedicated bus service which runs from the town centre via Western Ferries to Glasgow’s Buchanan Street Bus Station.

‘Understandably they do not want to see a reduction in services, rather an improvement which we all hope the tender should bring about. However, uncertainty will remain until Ministers set out in detail the tender specifications’.

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