Questions About the A82 in Parliament

Issued by the A82 Partnership

Questions on the upgrading of the A82 will be posed in the Scottish Parliament by MSP’s from all major parties over the next few weeks. In the first of these questions Jamie McGrigor MSP asked for confirmation that the works at Pulpit Rock, Crianlarich, Inveruglas and Inverarnan, promised in April 2006, were still on schedule. This question referred to a statement made in April 2006 by the then Transport Minister, Tavish Scott, when he gave the green light to a £16 million improvement package and indicated that the work would be delivered over the next five years.
 
Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson, in his response, indicated that the works at Pulpit Rock and Crianlarich would be delivered by 2012 but the schemes for Inveruglas and Inverarnan would be taken forward within a 4 year timescale and construction would be subject to the availability of finance at that time.
 
A spokesperson for the A82 Partnership said, ‘Whilst we welcome the continued commitment to the Pulpit Rock and Crianlarich improvements we will be following up with Mr Stevenson the apparent time slippage and the question over funding on the other agreed improvements.’ The Transport Minister is due to meet with representatives of the campaign group in Fort William at the beginning of May.
 
The Minister will be told of the importance of the A82 West Highlands and Islands Corridor to the economy and to the social life of the people of the Highlands and Islands and to the urgency attached to upgrading of this life line by the community. Western Isles Councillors meeting in Stornoway at the end of this month will be briefed on the strategy and progress of the campaign and will be urged to register their support.
 
Meanwhile A82 campaigners took their case to the Labour Party conference in Aviemore last weekend and were met with a particularly informed and supportive audience. One of the group attending the conference said ‘I was delighted to see that our campaign is now widely recognized and is striking a cord with MSP’s and Labour Party activists.’
 
The online epetition is now heading towards a figure of 8000 signatures but was hit by a technical hitch at the Scottish Parliaments website mid afternoon on Tuesday. The epetition closes on Friday 4 April and supporters are being urged to sign up before the deadline on Friday. Signatures can be added by going to www.a82.org and following the links.
 
 ENDS