Plans for a bridge from the Barton district of the city to Eilean Seud, resubmitted in a council meeting in late October, have again been shelved after significant objections from islanders. Put forward this time by Labor Party councilor Aila Donald, the idea was for a bridge from Cruinn Pier to the southwest edge of the island with the belief it would make Eilean Seud more accessible for the rest of Challaid and emergency services, as well as making the mainland easier to reach for the citizens living on the island.
“The idea for the bridge is an old one,” Councilor Donald said, “it’s been around for more than a century and remains as relevant now as it was then. This is an opportunity to join the one detached part of Challaid with the rest of the city and make it a safer place.”
Residents on the island disagreed, with Lyle MacBeth, a representative of Eilean Protection, a campaign group set up to oppose the bridge, calling Councilor Donald’s proposal “mischief making.” Mr. MacBeth told the Gazette, “Ms. Donald well knows that islanders don’t want this and that the rest of the city won’t benefit a jot from it. This new submission never had a chance of success, and Ms. Donald only brought it forward to try and create divisions between people on the island and those on the mainland.”
Councilor Donald has disputed this, stating that there is a strong economic and safety argument for the bridge, but she did repeat her accusation that the people of Eilean Seud have consistently opposed the bridge on the grounds of snobbery. The value of an average house on the island, none of which have come on the open market in over twenty years, is estimated at somewhere around two and a half million pounds, with the population dominated by a select number of families considered unwelcoming of outsiders.
Eilean Protection have dismissed all of those allegations, with Mr. MacBeth saying, “This has nothing to do with property prices or stopping people from the mainland coming across to visit the island. If we wanted to keep people off Eilean Seud we would hardly be funding the regular ferry service from Cruinn Pier from our own pockets, a service which has made the island more accessible now than at any point in Challaid’s long history. What we oppose is millions of pounds being spent on a needless eyesore that will increase pollution and disturb a unique way of life on the island.”
When asked if she intended to put her proposal forward again Councilor Donald was noncommittal, saying only that “No good idea should be entirely off the table.” Challaid council leader Morag Blake and her Liberal Party have previously stated their opposition to a bridge, but gave no statement when asked by the Gazette about this new submission.
Police at Dockside station in Whisper Hill and the anti-organized crime unit at Bakers Moor station last night confirmed that the investigation into the notorious theft of over six million pounds from a National Bank of Scotland security van at Challaid International Airport in 2013 is no longer classed as active, although both have stressed the investigation remains open. No one has ever been arrested in relation to the case, and what started out as a large joint investigation has gradually dwindled to now have no dedicated officers working on it, with a spokesperson for—p8