Meeting of the Parliament 13 November 2024
I congratulate Douglas Lumsden on securing the debate on what is a very important issue, and I echo his comments, and those of Liam Kerr, on the A96. I am sure that my regional colleague Douglas Ross will pick up on that, too.
I am frustrated that no member of the Green Party is here, given how often they go in the papers to slate road development across Scotland. Nothing makes my blood boil more than picking up a national paper to find an inner-city member of the Green Party telling me that I am not allowed the dualling of the A96 in the north-east. Before I move on to the Rest and Be Thankful, I remind members that, if they lived up in Moray, in the north-east, and saw the amount of near misses on that road every day, they would become aware of why that road has to be dualled. People might hear about the deaths, as tragic as they are, but we experience problems on that road every day.
I turn my attention to the A83. I was delighted to meet John Gurr and the rest of the Rest and Be Thankful campaign group last week, to hear direct the views of residents and businesses. To be honest, that group is, sadly, at its wits’ end.
That has not been helped by a series of revelations, due to parliamentary questions that I have asked: £16 million has been paid to consultancy firms; £2.3 million has been paid to the landowner of the old military diversion route; and almost £5 million has been spent on replacing netting along the rest of that road. All the while, a spade has yet to go in the ground on either the medium or long-term solutions, yet that road is absolutely critical for the Argyll and Bute region. Residents and businesses could live with those costs if work was happening to upgrade the road, but more time has been spent in talking about the route than in ensuring that it meets the needs of residents and businesses.
I cannot stress enough the impact of the closure of that road. One haulage company told me that it is into the millions of pounds, at a time when the whole region wants to expand—particularly, for example, in the Scotch whisky industry. I realise that the A83 task force meetings give some information, but the community remains worried. I am sure that the cabinet secretary is aware of that, but that worry remains. A clear timeline is needed so that communities know when that work will begin. There is a commitment, but we need a timeline.
Not just large infrastructure projects are impacted by a lack of action; smaller routes are, too. I was in the Western Isles a couple of weeks ago, and I visited the blackhouse village near Carloway—a historic site that is growing in popularity with tourists. Its small, single-track road struggles to cope with the tourism buses in the peak season, and needs to be widened. After years of cuts to local government budgets, Western Isles Council has said that it simply cannot afford the repairs. The local community has managed to get little passing places put in for parents who walk down the road with their buggies. However, that is not good enough.
The Scottish Government has passed the buck to the council on that, which has resulted in effect in a stalemate. Local residents, as well as those who manage the blackhouses, are deeply worried that there may be an accident at some point, especially if the volume of traffic continues to increase.
Given that rural depopulation is on the rise, I ask the cabinet secretary to look at different ways in which the Scottish Government can help with upgrades on locally managed roads that are required for local tourism and economic benefit.
The roads that I have referred to, as well as those that have been discussed by others across the regions in Scotland, vary in size, use and location, but all of them have a profound impact on the communities around them. I do not suggest that we can build out all those roads overnight, but communities need to know that the Scottish Government is committed to the works on those roads and has produced definite timelines of when they will be delivered.
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