A Sunday ferry?
I can safely predict that this will cause massive ructions between now and the next meeting in November, and no doubt the Transportation Committee will want to make their view know - as will some of the individual Councillors.
When the planes first landed on a Sunday I made the point that supporting Sunday flights was not just about flights, but about the inevitable consequences that would flow from that decision: shops opening and ferries coming in.
The former came along very quickly, the latter looks to be just around the corner.
Except, that under the new CalMac tender, any variations in the service provision will have to be approved by the Executive and presumably changes made to the level of subsidy paid. Contracts will have to be amended, and no doubt CalMac will be highlighting the additional costs of crewing the vessel for seven days; new rosters; six days income spread over seven days etc. All to lever some more cash out of the sweaty paws of Government.
BUT, if this happens, then we won't get the RET trial on the Stornoway-Ullapool route for the simple reason that the base data for any RET trial will now be skewed by changing one other variable, which makes any assessment more difficult. Councillors - factor that into your public pronouncements before you make any demands. Of course, this could be solved by just implementing RET without any trials or conditions, as I am sure we were promised at one point by our parliamentary representatives.
When the planes first landed on a Sunday I made the point that supporting Sunday flights was not just about flights, but about the inevitable consequences that would flow from that decision: shops opening and ferries coming in.
The former came along very quickly, the latter looks to be just around the corner.
Except, that under the new CalMac tender, any variations in the service provision will have to be approved by the Executive and presumably changes made to the level of subsidy paid. Contracts will have to be amended, and no doubt CalMac will be highlighting the additional costs of crewing the vessel for seven days; new rosters; six days income spread over seven days etc. All to lever some more cash out of the sweaty paws of Government.
BUT, if this happens, then we won't get the RET trial on the Stornoway-Ullapool route for the simple reason that the base data for any RET trial will now be skewed by changing one other variable, which makes any assessment more difficult. Councillors - factor that into your public pronouncements before you make any demands. Of course, this could be solved by just implementing RET without any trials or conditions, as I am sure we were promised at one point by our parliamentary representatives.
13 comments:
whether for or against sunday sailing. the fact remains that with a hell of a detour and extra cost this journey is available.(via harris uist and skye). The crews are already rostered for sundays and have to spend their day on board in Sy!
I usually see a fair bit of activity around the ferry on Sundays, Angus. Similarly, Sunday sailings in the Sound of Harris had no implications of the sort you refer to, as the crew always used to work on the boat on Sundays at any rate.
The calmac crew already get paid for 7 days work. So it wont cost any more to crew the fery, the only extra stafing costs will be the boys on the pier tie-ing up the boat & the people in the calmac office. Bring it on, can go away for the weekend without taking the monday off work to return to the island.
Whoops! Looks like you made an error about rostering and 7-day crewing arrangements.
After last week's slip up about the number of Cal Mac service level agreements.
Kind of reduces the strength of your arguments when you can't get your facts right.
I heard there was an e-mail letter you could send in support, do you have a link Angus?
I don't have a link to any e-mail letter, but if anyone else does....
However, I think a personalised letter always has more impact than a cut-and-paste round robin.
wrong again!
no committee meetings in November.
Oct & Dec.
I was referring to the CalMac meeting in November in Fort William where this matter will be discussed.
Oh Angus, think you've hit a raw nerve with anon 7.45 and 1.36.
I can't believe he expects you to know everything about everything about Calmac rosters and internal contracts. These posts are about opinion and constructive argument not nit picking and pettyness
I attend a quarterly meeting on the mainland that's held on a Saturday. Due to the fact that there's no Sunday ferry, I can't get home until the Monday at the earliest - the Skye, North Uist Harris detour isn't feasible in the Winter, as the timetables don't connect. And yes, before anyone points it out, I do need to take the car rather than fly.
It's high time that folk had the option of being able to travel to/from the mainland seven days a week.
Must say that I was amazed by Rev Coghill's statement in the Gazette. I contacted Cal Mac off my own back and am not part of any wider campaign. It'll be interesting to see what results are gleaned from the questionnaire that's been sent to island households recently, but I am aware that will depend on the response rate.
Rev Coghill's comment in the Gazette can be seen here.
So what is your position on 7 day transport Angus? A good thing or a bad thing? It might lead to dancing? You imply that the opening of shop (singular) exclusively predicted was a consequence of Sunday flights. What's your evidence of link? Take a look around Engebret's (and good for you Charlie) on a Sunday. What do you see - hoards of people just off the plane? Don't think so. This issue is full of double standards - say one thing and do the other. Get real and think of the people you know who have left this island because they cannot hack this stuff.
Personally, I would support a Sunday ferry. I have no problem using facilities on a Sunday - yesterday we went out for lunch and a drink.
Indeed, when I was on the Licencing Board I was the loudest (sometimes only) voice for Sunday afternoon extensions in hotels.
Post a Comment