ROAD PLAN JACOBITES OBJECTORS
Fears major A9 revamp will ‘destroy’ heritage site
Community councillors have voted unanimously to object to proposed alterations on a section of the A9 amid fears a historic Jacobite battlefield site would be obliterated.
Killiecrankie Community Council met on Monday night to discuss the finalised route of the soon-to-be widened A9 trunk road from Perth to Inverness, specifically a one-mile stretch of the 13-mile section from Killiecrankie to Glen Garry.
It is claimed the earth work would “totally destroy the topography” of the historic Killiecrankie battlefield, a place of international significance.
The contentious area lies
between the tie-in to the existing dual carriageway at the northern end of the Pass of Killiecrankie and the Allt Chluain Underpass, close to the village of Aldclune.
Backfill from the roadwidening would be tipped over the infamous spot near the Killiecrankie Hotel to raise the height of the new carriageway.
As well as the route proposed for the widened road, plans to create a layby have stirred hostility locally.
And an ancient farm building, said to be once used as a sniper point to pick off Government soldiers, does not appear on the plans, so is not being considered for conservation.
The Killiecrankie battle site is listed in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields, maintained by Historic Environment Scotland and the anniversary of the first Jacobite insurgency is marked by a popular event in the area.
An indication of the power of the past as a draw for tourism is that Killiecrankie Visitor Centre managed by the National Trust for Scotland was recently found to be one of the top visitor centres in the country.
A presentation was made on Monday by professional filmmaker William Rattray about the archaeology of the battlefield. Two thousand men died in one bloody hour on July 27 in 1689, it was bloodier than at the more famous Battle of Culloden.
After the presentation a vote was taken on Killiecrankie’s response to the proposed A9 plan.
The community councillors and 20 or so members of the public all agreed if the current plan put forward by design engineers Jacobs was to go ahead, the topography of the battlefield would be altered and effectively destroyed as a visitor attraction and memorial site.
An independent campaign group, calling itself ‘KilliecrAnkie1689’ has been formed after a sub-committee of the Killiecrankie Community Council did detailed research into implications of the road building.
The working group, separate to the community council, said it is not against the plans to widen the A9 to improve safety, but is concerned at the impact that the current plans will have on the Battle of Killiecrankie site.
“KilliecrAnkie1689 believes that the route which Transport Scotland favours for widening the crucial mile in Killiecrankie will cause unprecedented degradation of the battle site,” explained a spokesperson for the new group.
The representative continued: “We hope we will enable people from further afield, not just Killiecrankie residents, to register their objections to the plans, there is very little time.
“Many of us here rely on tourism and were very alarmed when the compulsory purchase orders came in November about what could happen to this special site. We want archaeologists and actors from the Soldier of Killiecrankie event to have their say too.”
The group also states: “Transport Scotland, its engineers and designers are obliged to explore every avenue to avoid negative impacts on the historic battlefield.
“The plan [of the route between Killiecrankie and Glen Garry] is now public and anyone who wishes to object to it must do so, in writing, to Transport Scotland before January 23.
The Scottish Government has described the dualling of the A9 as one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the country’s history.
Set to be completed by 2025, the hope is to bring “faster journey times, better journey time reliability and road safety improvements for anyone travelling between the cities of Perth and Inverness.”
For more information on ‘KilliecrAnkie1689,’ see www.KilliecrAnkie1689.scot or search on social media.