Sweltered wrote:EMDEE wrote:I am at a complete loss as to why you have such a "bee in your bunnet" against the ferry, and can see that there is no point in even trying to persuade you otherwise. Even if you actually do believe it would be a failure, what is the harm in trying it to prove either the "for" or "against" camps wrong. The cost to the public purse would be insignificant compared to much of the profligacy that already exists.
"Convince a man against his will, he's of the same opinion still", except there does not appear to be any prospect of convincing in this case.
I feel that you are taking a very simplistic and short-term view of the situation. economic benefits will not be immediate, but they would undoubtedly come when the infrastructure is in place, and the link is well established, without the prospect of disappearing again after a few years.
Neither you nor I have a crystal ball, and to ask what businesses I think are going to be attracted to the area is really a red herring, as it is impossible for anyone to answer this. The important thing is that the opportunity is created for existing and new businesses on both sides of the North Channel. They would both have substantially extended potential customer areas in which to sell their products and sevices. Surely that is obvious to anyone.
I don't want to have to reiterate all that I have said already, but feel that I have started to do that.
What gave you the idea I'm against the ferry, I'm just interested as to why the ferry is seen as the great saviour of Kintyre. Would you rather people just blindly accepted everything without question?
I think the ferry is a great idea, but I don't think its going to be the golden goose that people think it is.
What about a factory making windows for the building trade, or kits for houses (a la Alba Delta). Mention has been made of the high cost of building materials in Ireland, so theres a couple of ideas for you.
See how easy that was.
It’s good to hear that you are not anti-ferry, but just questioning why the ferry is being seen in such an optimistic light.
I don’t particularly like the expression “Saviour of Kintyre”, as I have heard it too often in the past in connection with projects that have subsequently gone pear-shaped.
The difference between previous projects and the proposed ferry is that the ferry is a service that can be used by the entire business community, including any businesses with aspirations to expand and sell to a bigger market. Although in itself the ferry will be an employer, this should not be the reasoning behind lending support. It is the effect of the service as a facilitator for economic activity that is the whole point of supporting it, and it is the economic activity that will make the ferry viable.
This differs from previous projects where companies have been encouraged to set up a manufacturing unit in the area and we have finished up with a lot of our eggs in one basket. We know the results of that.
I appreciate what you are saying about over-high hopes for what the ferry could achieve, but it already appears to have support from a wide cross-section of the business community, and this is encouraging. If it is up and running, it is then up to these same supporters to turn their support into investment and economic activity. Again I would state that any business which was going to use this service would need to have a cast-iron guarantee that the service was going to continue, and run all year round.
I would actually envisage a much wider cross-section of economic activity than the building materials/building kits industry that you have suggested. This is why I have not been forthcoming with suggestions as to what kinds of businesses could set up or expand. The economy is too complex and subject to too many external forces to predict anything. I would suggest however that the building kits etc. industry is a highly competitive and volatile market, and is possibly not what we would be looking for if we want to see sustainable growth in the local economy, although I don’t think anything should be ruled out.
