Guernsey Press

Weymouth councillor looking to bring ferry service back

RE-ESTABLISHING ferry links between Weymouth and the Channel Islands is the key aim of a Weymouth councillor.

Published
The last Condor sailing from Weymouth was on 23 March 2015 and was operated by the wavepiercer Condor Express. A councillor from the town wants an investigation which could lead to its return. (Picture by Graham Hunt)

At a council meeting today, Councillor Jan Bergman hopes to encourage fellow councillors to support his call for an investigation into how a cross-Channel service can be brought back.

He said he has spoken to Brittany Ferries and Red Funnel Ferries, which seemed interested in getting around the table to talk more.

If councillors support his idea to investigate further, the town council will approach Guernsey officials.

With Condor’s departure, it is reported that Weymouth has lost £750,000 a year in harbour income.

For many years Condor ran two fast ferries from Weymouth until it switched the service to Poole in 2015.

‘The primary reason the service ceased was not due to Condor’s introduction of a larger passenger ship [Condor Liberation], rather it was caused by structural problems at the harbour which saw parts of the berth collapse into the sea,’ said a spokesman for the company.

‘The port in Weymouth had previously suffered from massive under-investment over a long period, which is not dissimilar to many similar, small harbours, and this catastrophic failure in 2012 required emergency, remedial work to be undertaken.’

When Condor decided to modernise and upgrade its fleet, the company approached Weymouth to discuss the modifications that would be required to the harbour and offered to share the reinvestment costs, which the Dorset Echo reported as being around £10m.

‘Weymouth and Dorset Council were sadly unable to secure funding to improve the port to allow us to continue there,’ Condor said.

Councillor Bergman said the return of the ferry would provide more jobs and internships for young people in Weymouth, as well as encourage tourism which would benefit the shops, hotels, town, restaurants and more.

‘Guernsey also offers an incredible wealth of culture and history with the Occupation Museum, Victor Hugo’s house, and the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book,’ he said.

‘For Weymouth students to go away to Guernsey for a day and have access to so much culture and history would be amazing.’