Voters face ‘ludicrous’ six mile trip at elections

Hundreds of voters in Perthshire could face a six-mile round trip to cast their votes in elections.

There are proposals for residents living in Ruthvenfield to be sent to Pitcairngreen to vote in elections.

Previously, these residents went to Ruthvenfield Primary School to vote, but now they will vote elsewhere because of plans to combine two voting districts.

However, it is understood Ruthvenfield Primary School will continue to act as a polling station, with residents living in the Almond and Earn council ward travelling in to Ruthvenfield to cast their votes.

Cllr Grant Laing, who represents the Strathtay area at Perth and Kinross Council, described the plans, which will affect up to 500 people, as “ludicrous”.

He said: “There is no suitable public transport so driving would be the only option for the electorate.

“In an era when the council is actively trying to reduce the carbon footprint this seems a very retrograde step.

“Right now, many people in Ruthvenfield can easily walk to their current polling station and it seems ludicrous to move them, whilst having 139 people from another ward driving into the Strathtay ward to vote.

“We should be taking steps to encourage the voting public, not introducing changes which would have an obvious detrimental effect.”

These sentiments have been echoed by Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire.

She said: “This suggestion seems bizarre, to say the least.

“And if there is any good reason for it, then Perth and Kinross Council has, for some reason, chosen not to share it with us.

“In the list of proposed changes to polling stations announced by the council there are four changes put forward.