Committee
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee 27 November 2024
27 Nov 2024 · S6 · Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Item of business
Continued Petitions
A82 Upgrade (PE1967)
PE1916, lodged by Councillors Douglas Philand and Donald Kelly, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to instigate a public inquiry on the political and financial management of the A83 Rest and Be Thankful project, and to provide a permanent solution for the route. We are joined by our MSP colleague the indefatigable Jackie Baillie, who is a regular contributor to our proceedings and maintains an interest in this and our subsequent petition, as well as other petitions. We last considered the petition at our meeting on 21 February 2024, when we agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, who has responded to the committee. The cabinet secretary states that “delivery of a permanent and resilient solution is a priority”, with the publication of draft orders expected by the end of the year. Time is running out. The Scottish Government estimates that the cost of the permanent long-term solution will be between £405 million and £470 million, with a more accurate estimate of the cost expected as work to progress stage 3 of the design manual for roads and bridges develops. The cabinet secretary has also provided information about the medium-term solution, including improvements to the old military road, which is expected to take 12 months to complete once construction gets under way, subject to weather conditions. We have also received a submission from the petitioners detailing the concerns of the Rest and Be Thankful campaign group. Those concerns include Transport Scotland’s unwillingness to provide a two-way road as part of the medium-term solution; the continued threat of landslides on the route and whether that risk has been properly evaluated; and concerns that funding decisions are made annually, which means that there is no guarantee that the money will be in place when it is needed to complete the project. Before we consider anything afresh, I invite Jackie Baillie to address the committee.
In the same item of business
The Convener
Con
Do members agree to consider the next two petitions together? I propose that we discuss each petition in turn, with a common suggestion for how we might go f...
The Convener
Con
PE1916, lodged by Councillors Douglas Philand and Donald Kelly, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to instigate a public inquir...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
Thank you, convener, and thank you for your kind words, which I hope will be sustained throughout the meeting. The petitioners are calling for a public inq...
The Convener
Con
This petition runs through the parliamentary DNA of David Torrance and me because we have lived with it parliamentary session after parliamentary session. We...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I welcome John and Anne Urquhart to the public gallery; their presence shows the importance of the petition to the local community. I have invited the commi...
The Convener
Con
I am surprised that you cannot promise sunshine—I thought that Labour was promising sunshine for all.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
If it will bring you out to the A82, I will promise sunshine for you, convener.
The Convener
Con
Colleagues, I am looking at both the petitions and I think that we are now driven in a similar direction as to how we might take them forward. We are going t...
David Torrance
SNP
This is the third Parliament session during which I have been involved in discussions about the Rest and be Thankful. I say to Jackie Baillie that it was a s...
The Convener
Con
It was.
David Torrance
SNP
I chaired a meeting of the Public Petitions Committee there. This has been an on-going issue for the local community and all the measures that have been put...
Fergus Ewing
SNP
I support Mr Torrance’s suggestion. I was also struck by the petitioner’s most recent submission, of 12 November, which I hope the cabinet secretary will res...
The Convener
Con
I am grateful for that broadcast to the nation, Mr Ewing, and I commend you, as I always do, for delivering it with impeccable grammar from start to finish. ...
Fergus Ewing
SNP
I certainly concur.
The Convener
Con
Are we agreed? Members indicated agreement.
The Convener
Con
The Convener: That is what we will do. I hope that, by that time, we will have the orders that we have been promised and will be able to investigate the matt...