Friday 3 February 2012

Transport Scotland A96 etc / Nairn Bypass Consultation; more info


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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