Thursday, January 23, 2014

A96 Nairn dual-carriageway bypass - Auldearn CC opt for northern route around village

Auldearn Community Council have written to Transport Scotland to express their preference for the northern "2H" option around the village. Their support for this route is conditional however, they state: "...our adoption of 2H as the preferred route is conditional on the realignment of the eastern section of the road, as presently drawn, further south from Penick and Wester Hardmuir farms." 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

A very dissapointing decision from Auldearn Community Council. At the last public meeting there was an obvious lean towards a route which followed the line of the existing A96. However the community council susequently met in secret and chose a route which clearly is their personal preference. We can only hope the actual decision by Transport Scotland is more democratic.

Graisg said...

@anon 1812 - Perhaps you should take your concerns to the next Auldearn CC meeting if you feel that they went against the public will of the meeting.

cc supporter said...

Perhaps anon should consider the fact that the Community Council have to represent all the villagers, not just those who had chance to attend the meetings.

& I really hope anon does attend the next meeting to air their views as ' However the community council susequently met in secret and chose a route which clearly is their personal preference ' is quite an accusation and it'll be interesting to hear them explain it.

I will certainly be attending to listen as I feel that the Community Council had a very difficult decision to make and they reached a decision based on the best option for the village as a whole with consideration shown for those potentially affected by the chosen route.

The existing A96 option may seem like an obvious choice until you look at the detail and see how it totally splits the Auldearn area in two and promises the loss of bus services to add insult.

The Community Council are not alone in their choice either as another, independent, group representing those concerned about the effects of the bypass on Auldearn have come to the same conclusion.

Anonymous said...

..."The existing A96 option may seem like an obvious choice until you look at the detail and see how it totally splits the Auldearn area in two and promises the loss of bus services to add insult"

The A96 has already split the Auldearn area in two and has done so since about 1987! You already have to go to the far ends of the village if you wish access to it. Sighting that as reason not to have road continue on it's present route is complete nonsense. A bus service can and will be renegotiated I am sure

Anonymous said...

There are people who will be faced with a 6 mile + return car journey , rather than a five minute walk each way to and from the village. People from Auldearn Station, Boath House and other grouping of houses will find it easier just to go straight into Nairn, rather than into the village, and on that basis alone I'm afraid we'll simply have to agree to disagree.

The one fact you seem to overlook though is that the existing road is single carriageway, easily crossed by pedestrians and cyclists.

The proposed road is 4 lanes of traffic doing 70 mph,positioned so that at Doocot Road it'll be within 20 metres of some poor sods front door.

Obviously you have strong feelings about the existing bypass line being the one to choose and you are entitled to your opinion.

Anonymous said...

I think citing community severance as a reason to object to any bypass line is perfectly valid and Transport Scotland agree, it says so in their A96 dualling document.

Anonymous said...

It does seem odd that auldearn CC have come up with this alternative route, i dont recall anybody voicing their support for this route. #bemused