Government minister's private visit to proposed Kishorn base

A GOVERNMENT minister sailed into the Loch Kishorn site of a proposed major renewable energy base on Wednesday as local tensions over the plans hotted up.

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore met Alasdair Ferguson and Simon Russell, directors of Kishorn Port Ltd (KPL), which has plans to revive the former Howard Doris port and dry dock site as a fabrication and assembly centre for the offshore energy sector.

Following Mr Moore’s visit, Mr Ferguson said the minister had been impressed by the huge scale of the facilities and the potential of the site.

The event, which took place without any public announcement, comes amid a growing split between residents in the Wester Ross communities around Loch Carron and Loch Kishorn over plans to revive the yard.

While many long-established residents are supporting the plan by Kishorn Port Ltd to redevelop the port and dry dock site as a fabrication and assembly centre for the offshore energy sector, others oppose it.

It is open to public consultation and a decision on the planning application is expected at the end of October.

Referring to Mr Moore’s visit, Mr Ferguson said: “He was very obviously impressed by the sheer scale of the site and said he could see its potential and was glad he had visited it as the displays he had seen about the proposal simply could not convey what was available.

“We definitely had the impression that he had a clear picture of what can be done here.”

The centre, when completed, is forecast to create at least 250 jobs, with the potential for another 2,250 in future, working on wind, wave and tidal devices.

One of those who strongly supports the scheme is Lochcarron Community Council chairwoman Helen Murchison, who made her feelings clear at its heated meeting this week.

She said the scheme could save their “dying community” and that it would be wrong to stop the younger generation benefiting from the jobs it offered.

She told the Ross-shire Journal: “I would say there are more people in the area for the scheme than against it. As someone said the other day, most local people are for it — but not all the residents.

“The community council unanimously supports the proposal.

“People who have come to live here because of the peace and tranquility should have known that there was always the potential for the Kishorn yard being revived. The fact is that those buying in the area and now objecting really should have done their research.

“The area is depopulating and the Lochcarron area has a larger percentage of elderly people than any other in Scotland.

“The key problem is lack of jobs and this has to be a major factor in supporting the Kishorn project.

“Objectors also claim the roads — many of which are single-track — would find it difficult coping with the extra traffic generated by the site.

“However, we managed to cope with the extra traffic which came about as a result of the Howard Doris platform building work in the 1970s and 1980s, and there have been some improvements since then.”

Lochcarron resident Jim Mould, who runs 14 holiday lets in the area and is involved with the local business association, is opposed to the Kishorn scheme.

He told the Ross-shire Journal: “Apart from the presence of a major industrial site in the midst of a Highland area, I believe the increase in traffic will have a marked impact on the area from the point of view of tourism.

“There is really only one viable road out of Kishorn and that is through the main street in Lochcarron.

“The company predicts 500 extra vehicles being generated by the site and this is quite unacceptable for Lochcarron and the narrow winding road to Achnasheen, which is also used by tourists and locals.

“While I would accept that the jobs created are a positive thing, any go-ahead for the plan must include a condition that the roads network, including a possible bypass of Lochcarron, be upgraded.

“This development should not impact on existing businesses — that would simply be unfair.”

KPL is keen to stress the company had foreseen the need for some improvements on the roads network.

Mr Russell said: “We have given an assurance that all heavy tonnage will come into the site as sea cargo. The additional traffic will be the transport used by the workforce.”

Mr Russell, who attended the community council meeting, said: “What was not in doubt was the community council’s support for the plan.

“It was also quite poignant when a local doctor stood up and said the percentage of elderly people in the area was the highest in Scotland and that ‘if you don’t get real, there won’t be enough young people left to look after the old ones’.”