A83 Rest campaign seeks help of UK Government
Argyll has huge significance to the UK economy, and it deserves a road network to allow it to thrive.
That was the message delivered to Iain Stewart, UK Government Minister in Scotland, at a high-powered meeting last week to discuss the Rest and be Thankful.
Convened by John Gurr, chairman of business-led Rest and be Thankful Campaign, the gathering in the George Hotel included Argyll and Bute chief executive Pippa Milne, council leader Robin Currie, constituency MSP Jenni Minto, regional MSPs Rhoda Grant and Donald Cameron and Brendan O’Hara MP.
Among the business representatives were Kenny MacLeod, director of MacLeod Construction Ltd, Duncan McAllister of NFU Scotland, Jane MacLeod of Mid Argyll Chamber of Commerce, Iain Catterwell representing timber haulage, Donna Irwin of Loch Fyne Oysters and Argyll Estates factor Hugh Nicol.
Fifteen years of disruption on the A83 at the Rest and be Thankful culminated in two major landslides in August and September 2020.
In total the A83 carriageway at the Rest was closed for 200 days that year, with a 60-plus mile detour in place for more than a month.
The estimated economic cost to Argyll and Bute in the eight months between Tuesday August 4, 2020 and Wednesday March 31, 2021 was £5.6 million.
The road’s unreliability, the minister heard, is a factor in population decline; impacts the area’s ability to fund services; and hampers Argyll’s ability to attract a workforce and keep local businesses viable.
Mr Gurr said: ‘The A83 at the Rest has not been fully open without traffic lights since 2020, and traffic continues to be moved to the old military road detour, under traffic lights and convoy, when it rains.
‘When you drive past at 10mph, you’re thinking: ‘‘Will I get hit by a landslide?” It’s scary.
‘In 2013 Transport Scotland selected the ‘cheapest’ option from a 2012 report by Jacobs Engineering.
‘Nine years and £80 million later they are still digging.’
The Scottish Government has committed to building a ‘permanent solution’ at the Rest, expected to take up to 10 years to complete. What is not clear is what solution it will adopt and when work will start.
While transport is a devolved matter, the meeting on Friday March 11 was intended to raise awareness within the Scotland Office of the importance of Argyll, and the A83, to the UK – and explore any support it could give to speeding up the process.
Argyll generates around £700m for the UK exchequer annually and produces 15 per cent of all Scotland’s whisky.
It also produces 10 per cent of the UK’s softwood and comprises six per cent of Scotland’s farm production.
In 2021 the UK Government published a Union Connectivity Report – with Argyll conspicuous by its absence.
Mr Stewart was asked whether the region could be added to the list of transport priorities.
The minister replied that while ‘there is no magic wand’ he agreed that it was an emergency involving a lifeline road.
He said: ‘I will be speaking with Scottish transport secretary Jenny Gilruth soon. The Rest and be Thankful, and the calls for urgency on the A83, will be high on our agenda.
‘Meanwhile, the UK Government will be looking at whether our Union Connectivity Review, Levelling Up Fund and Shared Prosperity Fund have potential for the Rest and be Thankful.’
Speaking at a meeting with UK Government Minister Iain Stewart (see front page) Argyll business representatives outlined the urgent need for a solution at the Rest – faster than the 10-year plan outlined by Transport Scotland.