The following letter was written by Councillor Mike Barnacle to Jim Valentine at PKC on 16 March 2015.
Dear Jim
Need for ‘Major’ Mitigation Measures and Lack of PKC Funding for A977 (The Forgotten Road)
I refer to my letter of 18 July 2014 regarding the above enclosed, which remains my definitive position on this matter. I note that I never received a formal response to the points in my letter and my request for a meeting of all those circulated was not actioned. The lack of a response from the Leader of the minority SNP administration and the Convener of Enterprise and Infrastructure Committee reinforces my view that there is no political will to address this matter, which remains a priority for the people of the villages in West Kinross-shire that I represent.
I also enclose my email of 13 November 2014 on this matter, asking you to note that Peter Marshall has confirmed to me that the level of housing development in the countryside around Crook of Devon and Powmill to justify the major engineering undertaking of by-passes would be contrary to Tayplan. He also informs me that the cost of proper engineering/surveying for appropriate by-pass lines is significant.
The A977 Route Study, provided at the hugely disappointing meeting with local ward members on 27 February 2015 and discussed then, invites further comment viz:
The study makes no mention of PKC’s Statement of Case at the Public Inquiry in November 2004 into the new Clackmannanshire Bridge or the 2009 petition to the Scottish Government signed by over 1100 residents and now reinforced by Paragraph 7.1.18 of our adopted Local Development Plan (LDP) of 3 February 2014, likewise the Enterprise and Infrastructure Committee Report of 18 October 2006 is ignored; all of which supported the case for the large roundabouts I made the continuing case for in my letter. The study also omits reference to the preferred routes stated by Transport Scotland of the A9 or A985 for HGV’s or the status of the A977 as strategic at times of Forth Road Bridge closure to HGV’s in bad weather. No reference is made to the number of fuel tankers using the road from Grangemouth refinery to access the M90 when there is only on filling station between Gartarry Roundabout and the Turfhills Service Station. There have been two major accidents involving tankers in Drum that had major repercussions for residents referred to in my letter and you have been made aware of the tanker crash in Powmill of 4 March 2015 since our meeting.
Has the author of the study seen my letter of 18 July 2014?
I have noted that Councillor Cuthbert had produced a table from figures supplied by the Roads Department which clearly shows that the A977 carries the highest number of HGV’s than any other ‘A’ road for which PKC are responsible and I enclose this.
This ‘incomplete’ A977 Route study fails to acknowledge local perception on HGV traffic and seeks to justify the conclusion that the hitherto agreed major mitigation measures cannot be considered for priority capital funding at this time, in my view it, mistakenly, firmly places residential amenity for the villages that straddle this road as secondary in importance to the demands of the freight industry.
Whilst I accept that by-passes would obviously reduce the impact of HGV’s on the villages and are justifiable in the longer term per Charles Haggart’s email of 3 March 2015 enclosed; if PKC are unwilling to budget for the roundabouts they have previously agreed are required (estimated at £1.5 million in 2009), would they please explain to me how they are proposing to fund by-passes? What local members are being offered is a ‘do-minimus option’ of belatedly approaching Transport Scotland on signage (long requested), the provision of side-entry gullies in the villages in 2015/16, as previously requested by me and vehicle activated speed signage (proposed by the Independent Group in failed discourse with other political groups during the recent budget process).
In the Composite Capital Budget 2015-2023 (the time period that guides development for Perth and Kinross in our LDP), it states that the Prudential Code requires PKC to set a budget ‘to meet local needs and priorities’ in the most cost effective manner (Para 1.2 of 12 February 2015 Report), it further proposes that each Service is invited to submit outline business cases (OBC’s) up to the value of £10 million per annum for 2020/23 by February 2016 and to fully review and update the criteria (Paras 3.8 and 3.9).
I therefore re-state the case for an OBC for the A977 to be re-commenced now, focussing on short and longer term solutions for this forgotten road, hoping my fellow ward councillors will support same.
Yours sincerely
Cllr Michael Barnacle
Independent Member for Kinross-shire
Enc
cc Charles Haggart (Traffic and Network Manager)
Peter Marshall, Strategy and Policy Manager
Daryl McKeown, Traffic and Network
John Symon, Head of Finance
PKC Ward Councillors (Kinross-shire) Dave Cuthbert, Joe Giacopazzi, Willie Robertson
Fossoway and Kinross Community Councils