Still no decisions on Rest despite early promise
In the months since Jenny Gilruth was appointed minister for transport, campaigners for action at the Rest and be Thankful have expressed hope she would show more urgency than her predecessors.
Members of the business-led Rest and be Thankful Campaign met Ms Gilruth in March and came away impressed.
One of those members, Argyll Estates factor Hugh Nicol, said at the time: ‘Jenny kindly met the group at the Rest and be Thankful within weeks of her appointment, something we have not seen from [former ministers] Michael Matheson or Graeme Dey.
‘This was a very positive meeting. She was keen to engage with us and question why we can’t make a decision on the solution for the RABT now.’
Kintyre farmer Duncan Macalister, who also met the minister as part of the campaign group delegation, said: ‘It was good to see Jenny has local roots. Her family comes from Lochgilphead and the Inveraray area, which showed in her appreciation of the importance of the transport links from Argyll to the rest of Scotland.
‘We were encouraged by her positive response to our call for action and look forward to seeing fresh thinking and progress to a solution soon.’
Now, however, that early feeling of optimism appears to have somewhat faded.
The Rest and be Thankful Campaign believes the 10year approach being taken by Transport Scotland to identify and build a route for the ‘permanent solution’ to the ongoing landslide threat on the highest section of the A83 is too slow and hide-bound in process.
Work to identify a temporary, medium-term route is also taking far too long, claims the group.
Following her site visit to the Rest and meeting with campaigners, Ms Gilruth wrote to the campaign group’s chairman John Gurr stating she is ‘treating this project as one of my priorities’.
Ms Gilruth added: ‘Transport Scotland continues to explore methods to reduce the timescales to bring forward both the medium-term and long-term routes as soon as possible, whilst continuing to maximise the availability of the A83 and the OMR [old military road local diversion]. But I do want to assure you of the clear need for pace on future interventions.
‘I fully recognise the impacts this has had on the local community and businesses and I am committed to developing a response as a quickly as we are able. ‘We do not seem to be getting any of the definitive answers these initial meetings seemed to promise.’
‘The situation is being treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves, with measures to maintain connectivity on a short, medium and long-term basis being implemented.’
John Gurr responded to Ms Gilruth by saying: ‘We have been impressed by your response to the request for a meeting and for your intervention at the last A83 task force meeting where you questioned the need for further delay in announcing the medium-term route. Unfortunately in your reply we do not seem to be getting any of the definitive answers these initial meetings seemed to promise.’
Mr Gurr continued: ‘Can we have a decision on which route has been chosen for the medium-term solution? Transport Scotland promised this decision was going to be announced at the last task force meeting but all we got was “still to be decided”.
‘Of the two medium-term solutions discussed, one - the green route - was sensible, the other using the forestry/OMR roads was not, if it involved a convoy system.
‘Can you tell us why a green route medium-term solution, which Transport Scotland has said will take two-and-a-half years to construct, will take more than four years to be opened for traffic?’
Mr Gurr went on to state that the A83 task force is not achieving what it was set up to do - ‘to provide leadership and direction to ensure the delivery of the A83 Rest and be Thankful emergency diversion route and the wider permanent solution to landslides at this area’. He said: ‘Given the nature of the threat, impact on the region and imminent proposals, this group should meet more frequently. Transport Scotland should not be running the task force, it should have an independent chairperson to hold Transport Scotland to account for its actions.
‘We are asking you for a decision and to show that you are able to act now rather than wasting another two years before we see work starting at the Rest and be Thankful.’
In a pointed conclusion to his reply to Ms Gilruth, he added: ‘We were lucky last year. It was 36 per cent drier than normal so we were spared any landslides. This year so far has been wetter than normal and we have had more precautionary diversions on to the OMR.
‘Will this year be the year the 100,000 tonnes of unstable hillside washes away Transport Scotland’s mitigation measures?’