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)
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 inquiry, born out of frustration at the on-going lack of progress. Discussion about the A83, never mind the petition, has been going on for years. It strikes me that, at this rate, the planning will take longer than the building. I and others look forward to the draft orders at the end of the year, but seeing is believing. In May, Transport Scotland promised at the A83 task force meeting that a permanent fence would be constructed to protect the road from falling rocks and that the road would be returned to two-way use in the autumn. Clearly, autumn is a loose concept. We are now in November, and there is no fence or two-way road use. I could paper my office with emails advising that the old military road will be used because of bad weather. The petitioners remain unconvinced that the best solution is being progressed in the short, medium or long term, and they feel that money is being wasted on activity that has not succeeded in opening the road to two-way traffic. They also point out that, at the most recent task force meeting, the cabinet secretary said that the Government was committed to funding the project. However, as you rightly pointed out, convener, Transport Scotland is nervous about the fact that decisions are made only on an annual basis and wonders about future commitment. Therefore, it would be helpful to know whether the Scottish Government is truly committed to the project. I invite the committee to keep the petition open until we are clear about that point. I have a final comment. If rural Scotland is to thrive and survive, it needs infrastructure to avoid depopulation. Whether it is about ferries or roads, it seems that rural Scotland is being left behind.
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...