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Funding secured for ferry buy-out | Funding secured for ferry buy-out |
(40 minutes later) | |
A community group has secured the final slice of funding needed to buy one of two ferries still crossing between the mainland and the Isle of Skye. | A community group has secured the final slice of funding needed to buy one of two ferries still crossing between the mainland and the Isle of Skye. |
The purchase of the Glenahulish will go ahead after the Big Lottery Fund awarded a grant of £60,000. | The purchase of the Glenahulish will go ahead after the Big Lottery Fund awarded a grant of £60,000. |
The Isle of Skye Ferry Community Interest Company had previously chartered the vessel to keep it going last Easter. | The Isle of Skye Ferry Community Interest Company had previously chartered the vessel to keep it going last Easter. |
It will be made ready the new season which is scheduled to start on 2 April. | It will be made ready the new season which is scheduled to start on 2 April. |
The group had previously won £60,000-worth of funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) Skye and Wester Ross. | The group had previously won £60,000-worth of funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) Skye and Wester Ross. |
The community sees it as a terrific asset they can develop Dharmendra Kanani Big Lottery Fund's Scotland director | |
Spokeswoman Jennifer Frances said that without the money there was every chance the ferry would have closed. | |
"The owner had put it on the open market, but it is a big undertaking for any private individual," she added. | |
"Its only viable future is through community ownership and we are absolutely thrilled that is what we have achieved. | |
"It is not only a vital link for local people, it is a tremendous tourismasset opening up unimaginably spectacular views for the passengers." | |
The link is the only crossing to Skye that is not subsidised. | |
'Tourism magnet' | |
Routes between Mallaig and Armadlae, and between Uig and Tarbert andLochmaddy, are run by the state-owned Caledonian MacBrayne. | |
The Big Lottery Fund's Scotland director, Dharmendra Kanani, said: "There is romance here, but there is also tremendous practical potential and an enthusiasm to make the most of it. | |
"Rather than simply preserving the ferry as an intriguing historical novelty,the community sees it as a terrific asset they can develop, not just for theirown direct needs to get around, but as an untapped tourism magnet which can act as an economic driver for the area. | |
"We were impressed by what they had in mind and we are delighted to back them." | |
The future of the service was thrown into doubt when ferryman Roddy MacLeod announced his retirement about three years ago. | The future of the service was thrown into doubt when ferryman Roddy MacLeod announced his retirement about three years ago. |