DAVID ROSS and MOIRA KERR
ISLANDERS who will not benefit from the Scottish Government's pilot scheme for cheaper ferry fares are being called to a summit meeting to prepare a plan of action.
Ministers have announced a pilot Road Equivalent Tariff scheme on routes to and from the Outer Hebrides and the islands of Coll and Tiree. This is due to start in the autumn and could mean fares will be cut by up to 50% as they will based on the costs of travelling a similar journey by road.
The pilot is due to last 30 months but other island communities fear the vital tourist trade may follow the cheaper fares. Now campaigners are to meet in Oban on April 19 to decide the best way forward.
Argyll councillor Robin Currie, who represents Islay, Jura and Colonsay, is one of the organisers of the summit.
He said yesterday: "We want as many people as possible at the meeting, not only from islands but from other affected communities which are served by ferries.
"We have already had indications from people on Colonsay, Jura, Gigha, Islay and Mull that people will be coming from there and I am writing letters to various community councils, MSPs and MPs, inviting them."
Andrew MacGregor, secretary of Colonsay Community Council, said: "A car and four passengers cost £110 single to Colonsay, so for a family coming on holiday here it would be £220 return. With RET to Coll it would cost them £95 return. The savings would be more than 50% so it's a no-brainer to see that a family who haven't been to Colonsay before - and simply want to go to a Hebridean island on holiday - would go to Coll.
Willie McSporran, chairman of the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust, has called for the RET trial on selected routes to be replaced with a six-month trial covering all islands.
However, a Scottish Government spokesman said: "Pilots have to be selective by their very nature, but they must take place to ensure that a scheme is properly assessed, and fine-tuned, before it is brought in. However, as we have made repeatedly clear, the aim is to roll out the scheme to the whole of Scotland."
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