Furnace for Argyll

At last night’s Community Council meeting Nicola Debnam from Argyll and Bute Council and Ian Arnold form Argyll Timer Transport Group came to present the furnace-pier-haulroad-report on the feasibility appraisal into the proposed new pier at Furnace. The appraisal was commissioned by the two partners above from Scott Wilson Scotland Ltd.

The report describes Argyll as a major supplier of cut timber for processing industries, including paper and board manufacturing, carcasing, pallet and fencing timber products and biomass for energy generation. It notes that timber production here is set to double over the next 10 years - from 750,000 tonnes per annum to 1.5 million tonnes per annum. This growth in harvesting will inevitably put increased pressure on the existing transport network and especially the road system.

The Forestry Commission and Argyll and Bute have been successful in keeping a significant volume of timber transport off the roads - using sea transport out of Ardrishaig and developing use of unmetalled purpose-built roads to keep pub;ic road use as low as possible. The report says that, of the 750,000 tonnes of timber produced per annum, around 280,000 tonnes is shipped by more sustainable modes of transport. This is equivalent to 11,000 HGV trips per annum taken off the road network.

The driver of the proposal to build a new pier at Furnace comes from the fact that Loch Fyne and its
clusters of forest are where production in the near future will take place. Ardrishaig is the closest current freight facility to Loch Fyne but has reached now apacity with no potential for expansion.

Without the planned new sea transport capacity from Furnace there are likely to be unacceptable levels of roads-based freight movements. This impacts on the national network, on communities remote form the timber industry and on the environment.

The report describes Furnace as one of Scotland’s most sheltered natural water sites, with the potential to
handle an ever-growing trade in timber products between Argyll, other areas of the United Kingdom and elsewhere. It’s situation ten miles southwest of Inveraray is seen as making it ideal to serve the future demands of of the forest industry.

This is a very positive report. It will be good news for Alec Campbell whose idea it has been for some time and who has tirelessly campaigned to get its feasibilty recognised. The Report’s conclusions are backed up by the view of the Scottish Government’s Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) team who have been consulted and have indicated that, subject to further investigation and private business input of £1.6 milion, the FFG could award up to £3.4 million towards the estimated project cost of £5 million, based on 2007 costs.