I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you how awful the Scottish ferry fiasco has been – the delays, the over-runs, the over-spends – but what we haven’t spoken about so much is one of the shocking side-effects of the crisis: the impact on Ardrossan, its harbour and its people. So let’s talk about it.
The basic problem is that the folk who live and work in the town have been neglected and forgotten over the crisis. From the start, no one listened to them when they said the new ferries were the wrong choice; no one listened to them when they said they were worried about the effects the ferries could have on the harbour; and it now looks like no one is listening to them when they say they need immediate action to protect the future of the town. Over and over again, this is how public policy fails: no one listens.
The problems for Ardrossan actually go way back to the start of the debacle when decisions were being made about what kind of ferries were needed. What local people said, in Ardrossan and on Arran, is they needed two smaller vessels or catamarans to run back-to-back with each other. Not only would that mean there’d always be a spare should one break down, smaller ferries are also more resilient to bad weather. And most importantly for Ardrossan, smaller boats would also have avoided the need to upgrade and expand the pier to accommodate the much bigger Glen Sannox.
But again: no one listened and the bigger ferries were chosen, meaning a major refit for Ardrossan harbour was necessary. Now this would have been fine (if expensive) had a coherent business plan been formed right at the beginning and the parties involved had cracked on with it. Instead – prepare to be unshocked – the plans have been subject to delay, confusion........