Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Public meeting over control of Oban Bay

Andy Spence Chief Executive on the south pier oban looking across oban bay picture kevin mcglynn
Andy Spence Chief Executive on the south pier oban looking across oban bay picture kevin mcglynn

Concerns at a government body’s plans to take full control of Oban Bay are being discussed at a public meeting.

Business, tourism and community representatives are concerned at CMAL’s (Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd) proposal to become the single harbour authority.

CMAL owns the terminal and the ferries operated by CalMac on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Bid4Oban, Oban and Lorn Tourism Alliance and Port of Oban Cruise Group say there has not been enough public consultation.

They also believe control of the harbour should not be in the hands of a single interest and prefer the idea of a harbour trust.

A public meeting is to be held at the Corran Halls in Oban at 6pm tomorrow (wed). The proposal by CMAL to apply for a Harbour Revision Order will be explained. Lorna Spencer, director of harbours for CMAL, will answer questions.

Andrew Spence, chief executive of Bid4Oban, said: “We would urge all members of the public and businesses representatives to attend as access to Oban Bay must be maintained by pleasure and leisure craft, kayakers, dive boats and commercial operators as well as Caledonian McBrayne’s ferry fleet.

“BID4Oban is calling upon Argyll and Bute Council, a member of Oban Bay Management Group (OBMG), to pause the CMAL proposal to create a Harbour Revision Order until the concerns have been addressed.”

The OBMG is a partnership between the three main infrastructure providers in Oban Bay including CMAL, Northern Lighthouse Board and the council.  The group also includes representation from Calmac and a local stakeholder group.

Traffic using the bay has continued to increase in the last decade.

The OBMG decided that a single harbour authority is necessary to reduce risk from increased traffic, to improve marine safety, and enhance the commercial viability of the harbour. CMAL is believed to be the best option.

Lorna Spencer, chairwoman of OBMG said: “We need to implement measures to improve navigational safety and to facilitate that most effectively, we need a statutory harbour authority that is responsible for the whole Oban bay area.

“This has been the subject of long-held discussions. In the interests of safeguarding users of the bay, including fishing and leisure boats, ferries, cruise vessels and other operators, as well as businesses and visitors in the area, we need to press ahead with a new arrangement.

“If people and groups in the local community want to set up a trust harbour, they will have our support and the statutory harbour arrangements will be reconsidered if one is established.”