Quandary
Well-Known Member
Webcrafts campaign to gather support for the proposal has encouraged me to think a bit about it, and if it is likely to benefit the town, so here goes!
Need? There is a marina available just across the bay with a frequent and reliable free ferry service right to the centre of the town. There are also visitors moorings with an all tide pontoon a short walk to the south of the town centre, payment is by honesty box and the reported high proportion of defaulters seems to indicate that many yachties do not place a great deal of value on the facility.
Location? Right across the bay in front of the main esplanade with its Victorian style railings and streetscape, handy for yachties going to the pubs but it will interrupt the sea view for the ice cream and fish and chip customers ashore. Not everyone finds yachts interesting to look at. Very close to the busy ferry linkspans, though the ferries do announce their arrival and departure by tannoy and on vhf but some eedjit will surely still manage to get in the way; the site is exposed to ferry wash but I presume the breakwater will deal with that. A secure marina right in the centre of a town with its gates and keep out notices is not endearing to non boat owners, the local perceives in your face opulence and arrogance and does not understand why he is excluded? A location down the Sound where the existing visitors buoys are, near the sailing club, would be a lot less visually damaging and there is room there for more shoreside facilities.
Pollution? enclosing the tight little inner bay with an effective but necessary breakwater in a location where shoreside sanitary facilities must be limited ( for instance in Tobermory the new toilets/showers close at 9pm.) may mean that the already quite scruffy little sand beach in the centre of town could become quite unpleasant. The majority of boats up here still do not have holding tanks.
Benefits? The real spend by visiting yachts is often a lot less than the car borne tourist they may displace, this is borne out by the debate on Webbys thread about the price of an Oban fish supper. Not all yachties are big spenders. I suspect that any increase may be balanced by a reduction in the Tesco bags going back on the Kerrera marina ferry and a lower spend on the seafront. There may be some entertainment for those ashore as boats come and go but not everyone is sufficiently vocal or incompetent to give a laugh. I presume the trip boat night moorings will go and that they will be accommodated on the pontoons. The volume of sea and land borne visitors fall off very rapidly to almost zero for about 60% of each year so a very seasonal benefit with little chance of extending the visiting season, in winter Oban is a very quiet place so businesses struggle.
Of course this is a provocative exposition for a yachting forum and not one I will share with the Argyll Planners on this occasion, but I am not convinced that we yachties are always the benefit to coastal communities that we imagine we are.
Need? There is a marina available just across the bay with a frequent and reliable free ferry service right to the centre of the town. There are also visitors moorings with an all tide pontoon a short walk to the south of the town centre, payment is by honesty box and the reported high proportion of defaulters seems to indicate that many yachties do not place a great deal of value on the facility.
Location? Right across the bay in front of the main esplanade with its Victorian style railings and streetscape, handy for yachties going to the pubs but it will interrupt the sea view for the ice cream and fish and chip customers ashore. Not everyone finds yachts interesting to look at. Very close to the busy ferry linkspans, though the ferries do announce their arrival and departure by tannoy and on vhf but some eedjit will surely still manage to get in the way; the site is exposed to ferry wash but I presume the breakwater will deal with that. A secure marina right in the centre of a town with its gates and keep out notices is not endearing to non boat owners, the local perceives in your face opulence and arrogance and does not understand why he is excluded? A location down the Sound where the existing visitors buoys are, near the sailing club, would be a lot less visually damaging and there is room there for more shoreside facilities.
Pollution? enclosing the tight little inner bay with an effective but necessary breakwater in a location where shoreside sanitary facilities must be limited ( for instance in Tobermory the new toilets/showers close at 9pm.) may mean that the already quite scruffy little sand beach in the centre of town could become quite unpleasant. The majority of boats up here still do not have holding tanks.
Benefits? The real spend by visiting yachts is often a lot less than the car borne tourist they may displace, this is borne out by the debate on Webbys thread about the price of an Oban fish supper. Not all yachties are big spenders. I suspect that any increase may be balanced by a reduction in the Tesco bags going back on the Kerrera marina ferry and a lower spend on the seafront. There may be some entertainment for those ashore as boats come and go but not everyone is sufficiently vocal or incompetent to give a laugh. I presume the trip boat night moorings will go and that they will be accommodated on the pontoons. The volume of sea and land borne visitors fall off very rapidly to almost zero for about 60% of each year so a very seasonal benefit with little chance of extending the visiting season, in winter Oban is a very quiet place so businesses struggle.
Of course this is a provocative exposition for a yachting forum and not one I will share with the Argyll Planners on this occasion, but I am not convinced that we yachties are always the benefit to coastal communities that we imagine we are.
