Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee 19 February 2025
Yes—a rich tapestry of transport issues.
On a practical level, Nairn is really a one-horse town, in the sense that there is one road in and one road out. There are various rabbit runs, which contain diverted traffic and cause danger, because people drive far too fast on them, particularly in the south of Nairn. However, it is basically a one-road town and, in the summer, with tourism and an increased number of visitors, it can take up to an hour to get from one end of it to another, which is about a mile and a half. I do not know whether there is another town in Scotland that has such a serious congestion problem. Nairn feels that it is a forgotten town.
The final point that I want to make—this is important, and I have put it to the cabinet secretary, but we have not really had an answer—is that the cabinet secretary says that she cannot announce a plan because the Government has not decided how to fund it. Well, it has announced a plan and a timeline for the A9, but it has not decided how to fund those sections north of Drumochter, for exactly the same reasons as for the A96. If the argument is that it cannot publish a plan because it does not quite know how it should be financed, I note that the A9 is in exactly the same position as the A96. Ergo, that argument is plainly fallacious. I am afraid that, locally, there is cynicism that that argument is just a pretext, because it is dragging its feet.
I believe that the main parties—not the Greens—support dualling. With the commitments to dual the rest of the A9 under question, unless there is a clear timeline, there is a concern that, after the 2026 election, the Inverness to Nairn section commitment will be dropped like those for the rest of the A9. I am sorry to take up so much committee time on a constituency matter, but I cannot allow that to happen. I cannot remain in my current position unless there is a timeline; that is not compatible with my standing up for my constituents. It would be a betrayal, and I am not prepared to be part of that betrayal. I just wanted to put that on the record.