An Orkney councillor has voiced fears that a new ferries task force is just “a placating tactic”.
The local authority ended last year on a positive note, as the Scottish Government teased the first inkling of progress toward the county getting new internal ferries for a decade.
Leaders from the local authority have been very positive about deputy first minister John Swinney’s announcement of the new task force that will look at the business case for new ferries.
The first meeting of this task force is due this month and it will meet monthly thereafter.
However, one local councillor has spoken about his fear that this is just a “placating tactic” by the government.
Stephen Clackson is currently the longest-serving of the three councillors representing Orkney’s North Isles ward.
Task force announcement hailed as progess – but is it really progress?
Having joined the council in 2012 and living in Sanday, he is all too familiar with the vital role the ageing ferry fleet plays to islanders.
Dr Clackson was asked to give his view on the news of the ferry task force.
He said he’s worried that it may not be the sign of progress the islanders have been hoping for.
As such, he feels it’s time for the council to look elsewhere for help.
Dr Clackson said: “I fear this is probably just a placating tactic by the Scottish Government, a ploy to delay our involving the UK Government in helping us solve this very urgent problem.
“Remember, we’ve been in dialogue with the Scottish Government since 2014, and that has got us nowhere. It is time to look elsewhere.
“OIC has been working with consultants and the public for years on the ‘Orkney Inter-Island Transport Study’, carried out in accordance with the Scottish Government’s own routes and services methodology.
“The strategic business case was completed in Autumn 2016. The outline business case final reports were issued in September 2021.
“They exist. The information is there. I fail to see the need for a ‘task force’ to spend yet more years re-doing the work that has already been done.
He added: “We don’t have time to waste. The problem is now critical.”
Orkney’s internal ferries problem is now critical, says islands councillor
At the end of last year, Orkney’s council leader James Stockan shared a letter he had written to Scotland’s deputy first minister.
In it, he described the state of the ferries as presenting “a serious safety risk.”
With only a couple of exceptions, Orkney’s internal ferries are all now 30 years old or very close to it.
The council has put the cost of replacing them at £443.27million.
For the last decade, the local authority and the Scottish Government have been at an impasse over who should pay.
Dr Clackson said the ferries are the islands’ connecting trunk roads, albeit part-time ones.
He said:”Elsewhere in Scotland trunk roads are the responsibility of Transport Scotland, not the local authority.”
‘The ferries are the islands’ connecting trunk roads’
So, Orcadians will have to wait and see if progress is truly on the horizon for the internal ferries
Asked for his ideal scenario, Dr Clackson said the Scottish Government should take responsibility for the needs of the islanders.
He said: “Firstly, I would like to discourage the use of the term “internal ferries.”
“Our ferry services represent the extremities of Scotland’s nationwide transport system.
“They should be treated as such, and not as something separate for which the Scottish Government does not feel responsible.
“The best case scenario would be for the Scottish Government to accept this responsibility immediately and incorporate the residents of Orkney’s islands into its ‘fairer Scotland.'”
Fears of only one ferry serving Orkney’s outer north isles
Also asked for the worst-case scenario, he said a situation where one ferry ends up serving the outer north isles would be “a disaster.”
Dr Clackson said: “I worry we may be on the brink of experiencing the worst-case scenario when a breakdown during the refit period will leave us with a single ferry serving all six of the Outer North Isles.
“Such a scenario has already visited the services of the four Inner North Isles.
“Should both groups of islands be affected at the same time, that would be an utter disaster!”
Asked to reply to Dr Clackson’s points, Transport Scotland pointed towards Mr Swinney’s reply to council leader Stockan.
In it, Mr Swinney said he recognised the impact of Orkney’s ageing ferry fleet on the islands’ communities.
He also said he recognised the council’s urgent need to deal with the problem.
