Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) has expressed its gratitude to local community representatives for their contribution to the first meeting of a new group established to support the enhancement of vessel and harbour services at Gourock and Dunoon.

The inaugural meeting of a reference group involving Dunoon Community Council, Inverclyde Community Council, Argyll and Inverclyde Councillors, HiTrans and SPT was held on Wednesday 26 February.  The group was established to enable regular engagement with community stakeholders for the Gourock Harbour Infrastructure & Vessels Project, which aims to deliver a modern, reliable and resilient lifeline passenger ferry service between Gourock and Dunoon.

The project is being delivered in partnership by Transport Scotland, CMAL, CalMac and Argyll & Bute Council.  It covers the redevelopment of Gourock Ferry Terminal, minor works to harbour infrastructure at Dunoon and delivery of new vessels.

The meeting discussed the options and design process for new vessels and infrastructure improvements at both harbours.

Kevin Hobbs, chief executive at CMAL, said:

“We had a very productive first meeting with community representatives, exploring the options and design process for vessels and infrastructure at both harbours.  We welcome the desire for strong community engagement and hope this positive approach continues as we build business cases for service improvements, including the procurement of two new passenger ferries.  This project will bring much-needed investment in the service in the next few years.

“We will continue to meet with the reference group regularly, every four to five months, to ensure their feedback is considered and questions and concerns are addressed.”

The project is in the very early stages of development and as such, reference group members have been asked not to share issues and commercially sensitive information discussed at the meetings until agreed and approved.  This will assist in the promotion of accurate, consistent information to the wider community through the CMAL website, regular news releases and community events.

Information will be published on the CMAL website in the coming weeks, including an FAQ, and an online survey will go live in late March to gather further community feedback.  All ferry users, no matter how often they use services, are encouraged to complete it.


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