Author: simon
Wightlink Lymington Legal Action Delayed
Monday, 20th July, 2009 at 1:09 pm, Isle of Wight
Ferry, Island-wide, Law & Order, Overseas, Travel, Yarmouth
The Lymington River Association (LRA), who were due to take legal action against Wightlink in the High Court have delayed their legal action, it is reported.
Many on the Island, particularly those whose business depend on visitors coming to the Island, will be relieved that the court date has been moved past the summer holiday break, as they feared that the court action may have disrupted ferry sailings from Lymington to Yarmouth.
The LRA are now saying that the case will not start until September or October at the earliest.
The legal action centers on Wightlink’s new larger ferries and if DEFRA correctly assessed the potential impact of the vessels on the environment around Lymington.
The LRA fear that the larger, 1,496-ton vessels were too big for the river and were damaging the waterway.
There have been suggestions of moving the mainland port to nearby Pennington Marshes.
image: treehouse1977
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Reports in the Daily Echo today might interest Islanders who... - Vestas Protest: Vestas Take Legal Action to Move Blockade
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High Court rules ferries unlawful but they will still run.... - Some Lymington/Yarmouth Sailings Cancelled Tomorrow
WightLink have had to cancel some of their sailings tomorrow....
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Let me reiterate a point I have made before on this blog. The ferry crossings to this island are already hugely profitable. Both Wightlink and Red Funnel have made very significant infrastructure investments and are very keen to get a return on their cash. Any threat by Wightlink that they will allow the service to be disrupted in order to bring pressure to bear to get their way is purely hot air. They need the income. They have played their hand by making the investment. All the trump cards now belong to us.
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I am pleased that sense has prevailed and teh action is delayed. However, I will be even more pleased if this action was dropped altogether as, in my opinion, it has been raised by a few interested parties in Lymington who would rather not have the ferry setvice there at all. If you check the LRA website, they have dredged up (no pun intended) many different reasons to try and halt the ferries, and have finally settled on the good old “environment” issue. This cover-all bandwagon is flimsy at best and I hope that Wightlink see it off with some decent lawyers.
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