Link road health concerns stressed
Scone CC hears of pollutant worry
A health worker has reemphasised her belief that plans to put a school near the proposed Cross Tay Link Road (CTLR) will put pupils’ health at risk.
The PA revealed on Tuesday NHS Tayside’s Dr Jackie Hyland emailed three PKC managers before councillors were asked to approve the route of the CTLR to express concerns about the road going through the planned Scone North scheme and near a new primary school planned within it.
Dr Hyland, who at the time of her attempted intervention was NHS Tayside’s associate director of public health, told PKC’s deputy chief executive, Jim Valentine, and two other managers half an hour before the June meeting: “I have no objection to the CTLR as a solution to the air quality issues in and around Perth but the current section of road through the development and past a primary school will pose a health risk.”
The PA can also reveal Dr Hyland expressed concerns about the proposed route at an even earlier stage. It’s emerged two days before the meeting she emailed the council’s policy and strategy manager, Peter Marshall, and its road infrastucture manager, Jillian Ferguson, saying she hadn’t been aware up until that point the plan was to put the road through a development or near a school.
Dr Hyland has since publicly declared the council’s plans for the CTLR and proposals for a new primary school at Scone North put together are “not a good idea”.
At a meeting of Scone and District Community Council’s on Monday Dr Hyland explained: “Children have growing lungs and a bigger lung capacity than adults for their size so they’re more prone to the problems of air pollution. [And] they’re encouraged to spend a lot of time outdoors playing so they inhale more pollutants.
“So putting primary schools besides busy roads is not a good idea.
“There are a lot of primary schools beside busy roads but that’s what’s happened in the past. This is something we now have to address. You shouldn’t be building primary schools beside roads.”
Asked by the PA whether it would permit a new school being built next to the CTLR in light of Dr Hyland’s remarks, a PKC spokesperson said yesterday: “When considering any planning application we must deal in matters of fact and what current and planned legislation might state rather than some of the predictions and conjecture being promoted by Dr. Hyland.
“The scheme as proposed does not breach any current or known planned legislative limits and it is important that when arriving at decisions elected members are guided by the facts.
“While Dr Hyland’s correspondence presents a possible future scenario it is based on exceedance levels which do not currently exist, from a vehicle fleet which we know will be compelled to change, affecting a community which is yet to be established.
“At the heart of the strategic planning process is the protection of communities by the use of policy and guidelines, but the very act of place-making also impacts on all life stages by providing places for people to live and work.
“The generalised comments which have been made in relation to the Scone North development could equally apply to any community across Scotland, or the wider UK, and planning officers will always ensure that any proposed scheme meets our statutory requirements and strikes a balance of the economic, social and environmental factors which are considered as part of the planning process.”
The spokesperson added: “There is an acknowledgement that the current engagement and consultation process with NHS Tayside needs to be improved and senior officers have been working on a new protocol to improve the situation.”
Putting primary schools beside busy roads is not a good idea