Sail West brings £150,000 EU funding to Campbeltown Marina feasibility study

£150,000 of European funding for Campbeltown – matched by a further £50,000 from Argyll and Bute Council, will fund a full technical feasibility study into the proposed redevelopment of Campbeltown marina. The funding comes via Argyll and Bute Council’s participation in the hugely exciting, transnational Sail West project.

This is a flagship project designed to promote to the global sailing fraternity the west coast of Scotland,  the maritime counties of Northern Ireland and the north west coast of County Donegal  in the Republic of Ireland – as the world-class sailing destination it unquestionably is. It aims also to encourage greater sailing traffic between the three regions.

All of the local authorities concerned contribute a percentage of funding to agreed projects within their area which have initial listing within the overall scheme. The results of feasibility studies will help to determine the final projects to go ahead under Sail West.

This funding from partner local authorities is added to the Euro 7,025,046 awarded to the overall project from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the INTERREG IVA programme.

Sail West partners

• From the Republic of Ireland: Donegal County Council, the lead partner which will be responsible for the project’s administration and, with the Scottish Partners, for its marketing;
• From Northern Ireland: Coleraine Borough Council; Derry City Council; Moyle District Council;
• From the west of Scotland: Argyll & Bute Council; Dumfries & Galloway Council; Highland Council; Maidens Harbour Trust; Mallaig Harbour Authority; North Ayrshire Council; South Ayrshire Council; British Waterways; HIE Argyll; HIE; Scottish Enterprise; Scottish Sailing Institute.

Project activities in the Sail West programme at this stage

• Portrush: Technical study assessing feasibility of marina development of Portrush Harbour, supported by Market Assessment of Leisure Boating Study, Portrush Regeneration Strategy and the Tourism Development Strategy for Coleraine Borough Council
• River Foyle: Feasibility study to assist with understanding the access opportunities and create a blueprint for the urban part of the River.  Supported by reports on Foyle Days and Celtic Maritime Festival.
• Ballycastle: shore-based facilities, supported by Ballycastle Marina Business Plan
• Bunagee: development of a Sea Angling Centre, supported by the Donegal Development Strategy. This would include preparatory engineering surveys, planning permission and development of the harbour for sea angling and a boat station.
• Upper Loch Fyne: Provision of visitor swing moorings and landing pootoons, supported by the Clyde Estuary Study and the Overview of Marine Leisure Tourism Sector in Argyll and the Islands.
• Campbeltown: Full feasibility study and engineering report. Street piling and pontoon provision at Campbeltown Harbour. Supported by the Clyde Estuary Study and the Overview of Marine Leisure Tourism Sector in Argyll and the Islands.
• Crinan Canal Basin: Construction of shower/toilet facility block for boaters (current public toilets are very poor).
  A boater’s break out room / WIFI Internet Access. room may be included.  Supported by Scotland’s Canal Review.
• Stranraer: Shore support facilities such as shower and toilets, supported by the Clyde Estuary Study (CES) and the Crest Nicholson review of marine facilities in Stranraer.
• Largs: Providing a world class events infrastructure for large scale events by developing a new slipway that will allow the venue to operate events with 350 boats, enhancing the profile and statue of the Clyde area.
• Lochaber: Pre-build consultancy for Kinlochleven, Inverie and Small Isles projects.
• Lochaline: Provision of visitor berths, upported by the Overview of the Marine Leisure Tourism
  Sector in Lochaber.
• Mallaig: Provision of berthing facilities, supported by the Overview of the Marine Leisure Tourism Sector in Lochaber.
• Maidens: Feasibility study and development of a new safe haven by improving an existing harbour, Girvan Harbour, adjacent to the Maidens development and by installing additional berths.

The Sail West launch

The Sail West partnership project was formally launched yesterday (26th March) in Donegal in Ireland.

Formerly in the RAF but not averse to getting his feet wet, Councillor Donnie MacMillan, Chair of the Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee, (MAKI) was one of those representing Argyll and Bute at the event.

He says: ‘Sail West clearly has the potential to have a major impact on the local area and economy, and I’m delighted that one of its first successes is to secure this substantial European grant support for a feasibility study into Campbeltown Marina.

‘A redeveloped marina in Campbeltown would be of tremendous benefit to the yachting public, who are increasingly recognising the coast of Argyll as one of the prime sailing locations not just in the UK but in the world.

‘Having such a strong partnership between Councils and other agencies in the West of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland can only be of benefit in our ongoing bid to attract inward investment and external funding.

‘The Campbeltown marina forms part of the wider CHORD regeneration programme, which the town is already well on the road to making a reality. Securing the funding for this feasibility study is yet another boost to the very ambitious programme’.

As we’ve reported before, Campbeltown has never been in such a position, with the sheer volume of developments and opportunities coming together to give the town and its Kintyre hinterland the best possible following wind to make Campbeltown a destination of choice.