Lolland Municipality plans to cut daily ferry departures to the small island of Femø from seven to four. Residents say they fear the island community will die.
DR reports that Lolland Municipality wants to run the service to its three small islands with two ferries instead of three. The municipality expects to save up to 10 million kroner a year. The islands are Fejø, Askø and Femø, in the waters between Lolland, Falster and Zealand.
Under the proposal, described in DR’s reporting, Femø and Askø would go from seven daily departures to four. Fejø would drop from 19 to 17 daily round trips. The ferry M/F Femøsund would serve both Femø and Askø, with the crossing to Femø extended to 55 minutes to save fuel.
Henrik Jacobsen of the Conservative People’s Party chairs the municipality’s Climate, Technical and Environmental Committee. He told DR the municipality must adapt its facilities and its finances, and judge the needed service by passenger numbers. He presented the plans at a public meeting about the future ferry service.
The proposal rests on an analysis of ferry operations carried out by the consultancy COWI. The report published by Lolland Municipality underpins the revised sailing plans, which are now in public consultation. The municipality operates the route through Lolland Færgefart.
Researcher calls the plan radical
Jens Westerskov Andersen is a PhD student at Lund University who researches Denmark’s small islands. He described the plan to DR as a passive depopulation policy, and said it is the first time a Danish municipality with small islands has considered reductions on this scale to save money. He called it the most radical municipal plan ever made in Denmark.
According to him, 107 people live on Femø today, far fewer than 50 or 100 years ago. Since the 1990s, several Danish islands have stopped shrinking or have grown again. Stabilizing such populations requires regular and sufficient ferry service, he said, possibly with earmarked state support.
Pia Christensen was born on Femø and has owned and run Femø Kro for 37 years. She told DR it will be hard to keep staff who commute from Lolland, and hard for tourists to reach the island. She said the COWI report should have examined the tax revenue generated by an active island.
Louise Mia Povlsen moved from Copenhagen to Femø nine years ago and commutes with her two children to Maribo. The first draft plan moves the commuter departure from Femø from 6 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. She told DR her children would then be away from home until 5:30 p.m.
The family has bought a house in Holeby for use when the ferry causes problems. Povlsen said she will fight to stay, but must also consider her children.
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Lolland Municipality must find several hundred million kroner in savings in the coming budget, DR has previously reported, and the municipality’s deficit affects nearly all areas. A final decision on the ferry plan comes when budget negotiations conclude in early October.
