Councillors demand definitive timescale for A83 Rest solution
Two Argyll First councillors have responded to Scotland’s transport minister in relation to calls for a probe into the handling of the situation at the landslide-prone Rest and be Thankful (RABT).
South Kintyre councillor Donald Kelly and Councillor Dougie Philand, of the Mid Argyll ward, have submitted a response to transport minister Jenny Gilruth’s answers to a series of questions raised by the Scottish Parliament’s citizen participation and public petitions committee.
The councillors are calling for a public inquiry into the political and financial management of the A83 RABT project to provide a permanent solution for the route.
Following a meeting in April, the petitions committee agreed to contact Transport Scotland to seek clarity on three main points – whether there is currently a viable proposal in place to provide a permanent solution to the issues at A83 RABT; the timescale associated with this process; and why a viable proposal has not been forthcoming until now.
In response, Ms Gilruth said the Scottish Government remains ‘committed’ to an infrastructure solution to address the A83 RABT landslip risks, adding that delivery of a ‘permanent and resilient solution is a priority’.
She said the lengthy suggested timescale of seven to 10 years for a permanent solution includes design, assessment, completion of statutory process, procurement of a contractor and construction, and that Transport Scotland anticipates announcing a preferred route option for a permanent solution by spring 2023.
‘This scheme is technically challenging and the landscape is dynamic so it is vital we understand the terrain we are working in, in order to develop a suitable solution of the correct standard in the correct place,’ she said.
In their official response to Ms Gilruth’s statements, Councillors Kelly and Philand wrote: ‘While we are very grateful that the committee has decided to continue our petition, we are very concerned regarding the recent announcement by the Scottish Government indicating that there could be further slippage to strategic transport projects.
‘Our communities have been kept in the dark for long enough and we demand that a definitive timescale is identified to end, once and for all, the unacceptable RABT saga.
‘Furthermore, a key part of our petition which still has to be addressed is our call for a public inquiry into what seems to be a waste of public money in continuing to progress the existing mitigation measures.
‘In 2012, it was agreed that mitigation measures would be the initial way forward and this was estimated to cost the public purse in the region of £2/3 million; this has now escalated to £100 million without any permanent solution in sight and the same problems remain in terms of disruption on the A83.
‘The question which requires to be answered is: “Who is responsible for this fiasco?”, something we feel strongly should be the subject of a public inquiry.’