Herein some brief email correspondence
I would be interested to hear your experience of the consultation which starts next week, see previous post.
- From APTSec to Transport Scotland (TS):
Good afternoon
I wonder if you could provide a
little more information and clarity on the web page at this link
below
This link is was quoted as part of a
Highland Council Press Release – see below disclaimer
The section in question is as
below
Status
- In preparation.
Would it be possible to link another
page(s) on your site which could outline the various stages of projects such as
this with approximate timescales etc
I feel it would be very helpful to
have as much general and background information as possible in advance of the
meeting dates and for future reference.
On a personal note; I will find it
difficult to attend one of the consultation meetings since as luck would have I
will be in Inverness at the time the
Nairn meeting is held and in heading East towards Nairn on the Tuesday Evening
so will have to make a special journey Balloch.
Do you intend to hold any more
meetings?
Thank you for your
help.
- Reply from TS Respondent:
Thank you for your e-mail.
We have received a number of similar requests for
information on the stages of our projects with approximate timescales. We hope
to have some further information in the next couple of
weeks.
With regards to the public exhibition, the information
to be presented in Nairn and Balloch will be available on our web page from 6
February 2012. We have no plans at this stage to hold any further public
exhibitions as we are still at the very early stages of the design process. If
you are unable to attend one of the public exhibitions, we would be more than
happy to answer any queries you may have. Our e-mail address for this project is
A96InshestoNairn@transportscotland.gsi.gov.uk.
If you direct any future queries to this e-mail address, one of our Project
Engineers will be able to quickly respond. Alternatively, you may wish to call
me on the number below.
I trust this is satisfactory and please check our web
page http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/road/projects/A96-Inshes-to-Nairn from
6 February for additional project information.
- Return request from APTSec:
Thank you very much for
such a prompt and helpful reply.
The issue of provision
of transport infrastructure to support all the planned development in the A96
Corridor is one which resonates strongly with many, many people. The lack of
transport infrastructure has been overriding and front-focused concern amongst
the public since the Highland Council first began to promote and drive forward
their extensive plans for the area of the A96 Corridor; an area which
THC has unquestioningly
enlarged well beyond its original description (through in the adopted ILP
process) as a ‘narrow tract of land’ straddling the A96 trunk road.
Here is what the
recently published HwLDP Examination Report stated:
Infrastructure
(74, 153, 168, 218, 291, 431, 527)
8.
The preamble to the policy sets out clearly that the main A96 development is to
be in the medium to longer term. This is partially in recognition that to enable
it to go ahead major improvements will be needed to infrastructure, including
transport, education, water supply and drainage. The plan states specifically
(paragraph 10.6) that infrastructure capacity needs to be increased to
accommodate new development, and that the policy framework will resist
development beyond the first phases until improvements have been designed and
funding agreed.
9.
In these respects I find no substantive difference between what the plan states
and the representors are seeking. I consider the concerns raised are more
relevant to the future implementation of the plan, and it will be up to the
Council to demonstrate that the stated policy regarding infrastructure and
timing is followed. Otherwise the wider fears raised by representors will have
been seen to have a solid base. In terms of the plan however, I find no need for
any modification in this regard.
10.
Specific mention is made of the Inverness
Trunk Link Route
(168), suggesting that this is not required, at least at the eastern end. No
evidence has been provided to justify this, and I have no basis on which to make
any recommendation
It is so important that
we, as lay members of the public understand, well to put it very simply, how
everything works and fits together with respect to bringing forward a major
project like this.
Could I be very cheeky
and introduce a request for perhaps some ‘joined up thinking’ – presuming of
course that this is not already in the pipeline. The upgrades to the
Aberdeen / Inverness rail line and
provision of a rail halt at Dalcross is a subject which is very close to my
heart...Could pages be linked across the TS web site
so that we look at the progress of the rail upgrades / station provision in
tandem with road alignment work?
Would it be OK if I
just popped your responses to me up on the APT
blog?
- Reply from TS Respondent
Thank you for your comments and suggestions. We are at the
very early stages of developing options for trunk road improvements for the A96
corridor. We have been working with The Highland Council as they progress their
Inner Moray Firth Development Plan. As part of our design process, our
consultation includes key parties such as Scottish Natural Heritage, SEPA and
Historic Scotland. As the A96 Inshes to Nairn project also includes a number of
railway interfaces, we will also be consulting with Network Rail. The
development proposals at Dalcross have been taken into consideration during the
option development of the A96 section between Culloden and Brackley. When a
preferred option has been identified, we will investigate the options for
providing connections to the development at Dalcross.
Whilst at this early stage we have not developed particular
detail at railway interfaces such as Dalcross, we will keep this under
consideration for our web-site as the schemes progress.
I trust this is satisfactory and I am happy for you to include
my response on your blog if you wish to do so.
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