Improvements being made to Campbeltown New Quay

[Kintyre Forum News]

Improvements being made to Campbeltown New Quay

Work has started on the New Quay in Campbeltown. The £4.6m contract is being carried out on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council and is part of the Kintyre Renewables Hub project which will see Campbeltown and Machrihanish develop as a centre for the renewable energy industry in Scotland.

The works will assist in creating a national “hub” for the renewable energy industry creating significant employment opportunities and will promote sustainable economic development at the local, Argyll and Bute and Scottish levels.

The work involves putting new piles along the length of the New Quay on the inner harbour side, constructing a new concrete ground slab over the Quay, dredging the adjacent sea bed and widening the road at the Old Quay head by reclaiming a small part of the inner harbour. This will make it easier to transport wind turbine components and other freight.

The work started on Monday 27 February and will take around 8 months to complete. The contract is being carried out by BAM Nuttall Limited.

South Kintyre Councillor Rory Colville said, “I’m delighted to see this work getting underway. It will make a real difference to Campbeltown I’m confident it will encourage more business to the area. This project is just one of a number in development which will soon reach implementation stage. Elsewhere in Campbeltown work has already begun on the construction of 32 new flats and terraced homes at the Kinloch Road regeneration site. It’s expected this will be finished in early 2013. A tender is also out for the construction of passing places between the Machrihanish junction and Campbeltown also in connection with the Kintyre Renewables Hub.”

[WC1]

Given the millions invested in the ferry berth and terminal, to little lasting effect, and the fact that bigger ports like Invergordon are now gearing up to get into the renewables business, you have to hope this won't be a case of good money after bad.

[Mr.Everready]

The New Quay was piled a couple of years ago.

[jdcarra]

The New Quay was piled a couple of years ago.

Ditto

And now they are not happy with cutting a chunk away from the cross garden ,the inner harbour is now being chopped,what next?

Millions being spent in this department,its a pity could not be said about the roads .

[Mr.Everready]

IIRC the original plan was to fill in the corner at the harbour so it was easier for the lorries to turn. Obviously the cheaper route was to cut away the roundabout. I wonder if that'll be reinstated ?

[Niander]

They didn't even do it nicely with rounded corners
as the originals are
a very shoddy job !

[Kintyre Forum News]

I actually thought the removal of part of the roundabout was just temporary until this work is completed then there would be no need to cut into it. Then again, maybe they need both - anyone confirm?

[WC1]

Is it not a bit strange that things are afoot that will greatly change the appearance and more importantly the character of the town's seafront and yet no-one seems very sure exactly what they are? Was there public consultation on this? If there was, how did so many of us miss it?

[jdcarra]

Is it not a bit strange that things are afoot that will greatly change the appearance and more importantly the character of the town's seafront and yet no-one seems very sure exactly what they are? Was there public consultation on this? If there was, how did so many of us miss it?

Thats just my feelings also even although I have been living 15 miles away for the last 37 years.

[Mzz pasico]

Is it not a bit strange that things are afoot that will greatly change the appearance and more importantly the character of the town's seafront and yet no-one seems very sure exactly what they are? Was there public consultation on this? If there was, how did so many of us miss it?

Agree totally with your post WC1. Perhaps some of our councillors could enlighten us as to whether there was public consultation or not?

[John S]

yes there was, as part of the CHORD project to which this work is related. It was a good while ago. The work was delayed after Welcon went bust. the work on the quay is required to improve berthing for vessels capable of handling off shore tower sections.

[Mr.Everready]

How much did it cost to pile & concrete the New Quay a couple of years ago ? Another £4m wasted.

Can the people that make these decisions not look a few years down the line and try and future proof a project instead of doing it twice....at a rather considerable cost !

[John S]

You could do that but then face the criticism, quite rightly, of planning for things that might not happen. the offshore market is there, we have a manufacturing facility which can compete in that market with the right infrastructure - we either keep up or abandon tower manufacturing. I say we keep up.

[Mr.Everready]

I didn't say I was disagreeing with "keeping up", sometimes the planners and engineers need to look at the long term a bit more, but I suppose it's not their money they're spending.

[WC1]

yes there was, as part of the CHORD project to which this work is related

Another way of looking at this is that the harbour plans were hidden as part of the CHORD project. I certainly don't recall being asked for an opinion as to whether something so costly and far-reaching in its impacts should go ahead. And the original plans for the extension of the New Quay were abandoned anyway, or so I was told by a local councillor, because the 'experts' indicated that it would effectively render the inner harbour inaccessible to shipping.

I have serious concerns that we are going to destroy the seafront and with it the whole character of Campbeltown for something which may or may not be here by the time the project is completed. An example of the kinds of impacts I'm talking about, even before the work starts, is the MV Isle of Arran now 'laid up'' at the ferry berth with a loud generator running 24/7 literally within yards of people's homes. CalMac tell me they can't turn this generator off because there is no shore power supply available at the ferry berth. How did we manage to spend millions on a ferry berth yet miss out a shore power supply? Will we make good the deficit this time round? Meantime, can the Isle of Arran be berthed somewhere else and let me get some sleep?