Another Delay: Port Askaig on Islay closed until 28 May!!
Friday, May 04 2007
Works are delayed once more and the Port Askaig story continuous.... Earlier I wrote about the ongoing works and delays at Port Askaig which caused the Calmac ferry to divert to Port Ellen. The planning until yesterday was that the works at Port Askaig pier would be ready at 7 May. Today the Argyll and Bute Council informed Calmac that Port Askaig will remain closed until 28 May (this year?). The reason for this delay is not clear. One thing is sure though, the weather can't be blamed, it has been magnificent over the last few weeks.
In the meanwhile the temporary timetable issued by Calmac will remain in place and ferries to Port Askaig will be diverted to Port Ellen until 28 May. This will also affect the ferries to Colonsay which will also be diverted to/leave from Port Ellen. For more information call Calmac Ferries at Kennacraig: +44 (0)1880 730 253. To be continued.....
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Having seen the site in April it was blindingly obvious they weren't going to make the 7th. Especially seeing them almost sinking the barge (see the picture on my blog).
Colonsay won't be happy either, as they're going to lose a large part of the Wednesday day trippers for this season. With the current timetable you only get about 4 hours on Colonsay, just not worth the trip.
What strikes me the most is that the previous date of opening was 20 april, which was postponed for two and a half weeks and now they are adding another THREE weeks. And all that while the weather conditions for constructing the pier have been outstanding.
What you say about Colonsay is true but it won't stop me from visiting Colonsay and buy a few bottles from the new brewery. Guess having a brewerey at Colonsay does make a difference, at least it does for me :-). And besides that, you get more time to spend on the ferry for the same price which is not bad on a sunny day.
I just hope they get this sorted by June as I'm going to have my parents with me. If I take them to Colonsay I need to take the car (it's a bit too much to walk for them otherwise) and I don't want to do that if there's hardly any time to spend on the island.
I think if they postpone it for another period some of the responsible people will get into serious trouble I guess, if not so already. You should be safe for June. And yes 20 april was already later than planned, I think originally it was the beginning of March. Most likely they will exceed their budget for phaseII as well. The estimated cost was £4,783,000.