Link road fury sparks petition
Online campaign against new route
A group of frustrated Stirling residents has created an online petition to voice their anger about Stirling Council’s plans to push ahead with the £3 million Viewforth Link Road project in spite of efforts to cut costs.
Stirling Council recently re-launched its Big Budget Conversation which asks Stirling residents to help with setting next year’s budget to meet an £8 million funding gap.
The Viewforth Link Road (VLR) was narrowly approved by the council’s planning panel in 2019 despite 166 objections, including from King’s Park and Braehead and Broomridge Community Councils.
The scheme will see 31 trees removed - 28 within the Conservation Area.
The new route will run through Viewforth between the St Ninians Road junction with Snowdon Place and the Linden Avenue roundabout near Waitrose and will create an inner city ring road which council officials claim would help reduce unnecessary traffic in the city centre and become a vital component of a wider transport strategy for Stirling.
Already, howevever, around 700 people have signed the online petition asking it to be scrapped from the budget.
Riverside resident Pat Morrissey, who started the petition on behalf of the group, said the money could be put to much better use, adding: “It’s crazy for the council to admit it needs to make savings of over £8 million this year, while at the same time pushing ahead with a road nobody wants. At a cost of over £3 million the proposed link road offers very poor value to taxpayers at a time when essential services, such as waste collection, are under threat. It makes no sense”.
Pat said council pathways for community engagement had been “frustrating”, adding: “I quickly realised the Big Budget online survey offered no chance to make specific suggestions or object to ongoing council plans, such as the road. That left me no choice but to launch the petition.”
The group’s reasons for starting the petition, however, go beyond the budgetary considerations.
Fellow group member Paul Dumbleton added: “Stirling Council declared a Climate and Nature Emergency in 2019 and signed the Edinburgh Declaration on Biodiversity in 2020. In 2021 it is set destroy many mature native trees to build a road nobody needs. This will impact on the diverse and complex ecosystem the trees sustain.”
Concerns have also been raised that the VLR has been designed to redistribute traffic around the city rather than reduce traffic flow.
Group member Mandy Cairns said: “I would prefer the council to focus on reducing traffic in Stirling overall by implementing sustainable transport initiatives. This would improve air quality and reduce emissions, rather than simply moving the problem to another part of the city.”
Aberfoyle resident Dorothy Parker added: “If any transport in the council area needs investment it is rural public transport, not a city centre link road. Investment in improving public transport for villages outwith the city would be a much fairer distribution of public money, and benefit more people.”
In a statement, Professor Alistair Jump, Global Change ecologist and Stirling resident, said: “We now need the council to truly lead on protecting our environment while delivering sustainable transport and growth as it promised to do. By doing significant ecological damage, encouraging more cars through the city and irreparably damaging our urban environment, the proposed road runs fully counter to those promises and our needs - and at great expense.”
One petitioner posted: “I have never had any problems driving in the area planned for this project. The road is pointless, will disrupt the natural environment and biodiversity of the area and is a waste of money.”
A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “The construction of the VLR will help create a city centre and surrounding neighbourhoods that work for residents, businesses and visitors. The new road will reduce traffic congestion that negatively impacts on historic streets, such as Dumbarton Road and Port Street, while enhancing tourist and retail uses within the city centre.
“The road will redistribute traffic to the south of the city centre, maintaining and improving access, while helping to relieve the Craigs roundabout. It will also provide a new pedestrian and cycle route, which will all help commuters limit their carbon footprint and reduce pollution.
“Planning permission was approved in 2019, budget has been provisionally allocated within the capital programme for 2021 and work is scheduled to commence later this year.”
The petition can be found at http:// chng.it/zdxk6tlpqy