Weymouth cruise drop-off row simmers

Buses and coaches carrying cruise passengers in Weymouth are the focus of a continuing campaign by local residents who believe the set-down in narrow roads is inappropriate.

Currently, the set-down is Spring Road, in a small area close to the harbour, with Portland Port Ltd managing staggered vehicle flow at the departure point at Portland Harbour, some five miles away. Local residents are said by the local newspaper, the Dorset Echo, to be furious that the drop-off isn’t located in North Quay, and a row has broken out over who decides where it is.

Dorset Council told the newspaper that the activity of the cruise ship coaches and their passengers is entirely the responsibility of Portland Port: “We have been rather surprised to see Dorset Council’s statement regarding the cruise shuttle bus operation because the drop-off is located where the council tells us to site it,” said a spokesman.

“Following discussions and monitoring of the service, Dorset Council decided, and formally notified the port in writing, that Spring Road should continue to be used with the option of North Quay offered as an additional site. This followed a previous instruction advising that we would have to switch all services to North Quay.”

The North Quay site is currently a building site, with anyone dropped there facing a lengthy walk including a very busy road junction, with no shelter or facilities of any kind nearby. A local coach operator has stepped into the row, saying that the solution is obvious. A car park in Spring Road which could have provided a coach facility has been sold for development into holiday homes.

“I cannot understand why the buses don’t use the bus stands on the seafront,” the anonymous operator said. “That said, I am surprised that the cruise companies are happy with the shuttles provided. For many years they were coaches, but now they are old buses, with many of the passengers forced to stand.” He said that he had quoted several times for the work but had been told that coaches are too expensive.