Internal ferries on the agenda

Talks are set to take place between Orkney Islands Council and the Scottish Government on the future of internal ferry services in the county.

A delegation from the OIC will meet with the Scottish Government’s Transport Minister, Keith Brown, in Edinburgh on January 23.

Chairman of the council’s development and infrastructure committee, James Stockan, said: “The council’s ferry funding situation is very different from other internal ferry services that the Scottish Government funds through Cal-Mac. The meeting will allow us to discuss with the Minister exactly what our position, funding and ambitions are.  We need to establish how our ferries will be funded into the future, as our ferries aren’t going to last forever and we need to plan for replacement.”