Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee 19 February 2025
That brings us to the last of the new petitions. PE2132 was lodged by the Inverness Courier and calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to publish a clear timeline for the dualling of the A96 between Inverness and Nairn and the construction of a bypass for Nairn, by Easter 2025. I presume that the Inverness Courier is known to Mr Ewing, given his earlier intervention.
As the background to the petition reminds us, the Scottish Government committed in 2011 to dualling the full length of the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen by 2030. At that time, the expectation was that work to dual the A96 would follow the completion of the dualling of the A9, which, as the committee knows all too well from our inquiry, has not progressed as originally timetabled—to put it mildly.
In 2018, a public inquiry was held to consider objections to specific proposals in the draft orders for the section of the road between Inverness and Nairn. The outcome of the public inquiry was that Scottish ministers agreed that the orders could be made subject to amendment. The road orders and compulsory purchase order were subsequently made on 22 February 2024, signalling the completion of the statutory process for dualling the A96 between Inverness and Nairn.
In its response to the petition, Transport Scotland referred to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport’s statement in November 2024, in which she confirmed that the Government’s favoured position is to fully dual the A96, and it stated that the dualling process from Inverness to Nairn, including the Nairn bypass, is under way. Transport Scotland’s response also states:
“work is also underway to determine the most suitable procurement option”—
heavens—
“for delivering the A96 Inverness to Nairn including Nairn bypass dualling scheme ... It is expected that the work ... will take a further 12 months”
and will be closely aligned
“with the Mutual Investment Model ... assessment work being undertaken on the A9 Dualling”.
Transport Scotland is appearing to suggest that is only after the procurement option is identified that a timetable for progress can be set.
Well, well. Do members have any comments or suggestions for action? Do I need to even look up before I call Mr Ewing?