YOUR VIEWS: Excuses for A9 dualling project delays came fast
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Quick to give excuses on A9 dualling project
At last Tuesday’s A9 Crisis Summit, cabinet secretary Màiri McAllan spoke reasonably well but was careful not to give any specific assurances beyond that she would be making a statement in autumn. She blandly offered to take away and consider suggestions made by those in attendance. She deferred throughout to the two officials from Transport Scotland. Together, the three of them gave a performance worthy of an episode of the old TV comedy series Yes, Minister.
The Transport Scotland officials appeared to take pride that over the 12 years since they started work on the dualling programme (with a planned completion date of 2025) they have achieved completion of two of the 11 sections of the upgrade and have finalised the alignment and obtained road orders on a further four sections. They were quick to give excuses as to why progress had not been faster ranging from engagement in consultations and requirements around formal processes to delays caused by Covid-19 and the Ukraine war. They showed no determination to deliver the upgrade to achieve a target completion date, rather giving the impression of bureaucrats who respond to events as and when they arise rather than anticipating and managing issues effectively.
The minister and her advisers claim that this £3 billion project is one of the biggest and most complex infrastructure projects undertaken in Scotland. This claim is overstated.
Between 1850 and 1870 hundreds of miles of railway were constructed to serve the Highlands using much less sophisticated and efficient technology than that available today. More recently, five major river and estuary crossings (the Clyde Tunnel, the Forth Road Bridge, the Tay Road Bridge, the Kingston Bridge and the Erskine Bridge) along with a substantial proportion of the M8 and the M74 motorways were completed in the eight years between 1963 and 1971. The A9 dualling is a major programme but not exceptional in either scale or complexity.
A comparison between Transport Scotland’s current approach and that of Scottish Water is stark.
Scottish Water’s current investment programme involves expenditure of £5.8 billion in the period 2021-2027. It faces a similar mix of technical issues, consultations, statutory processes and market conditions as Transport Scotland but, through adopting a programme management approach including framework agreements with contractor delivery partners, it delivers on time and within budget, as it has done in each investment cycle since it was established in 2002.
Programme management is at the heart of this approach. This is a professional discipline which pro-actively manages risk wholistically to deliver a programme of works to a defined schedule and budget.
If there is to be a meaningful commitment to completing the A9 dualling programme in a sensible timescale, control and management must be delegated from Transport Scotland to a programme management office, preferably established in Inverness, with a budget and remit to drive the programme forward. I am sure that the cabinet secretary has the power to require Transport Scotland to take this step but I am less convinced she has the political will to do so.
George Rennie, Inverness
We need to change fossil fuel use urgently
In response to Colin Campbell’s column of July 14 where he is calling for tougher sanctions for extremists using disruptive tactics. Mr Campbell is complaining of the threat posed by Just Stop Oil as people had to wait longer in the queue for Wimbledon due to enhanced security checks. To be clear, Just Stop Oil (JSO), Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain are highly committed to non-violence. The ‘threat’ JSO posed was disrupting proceedings at the tennis for less than five minutes.
The privilege inherent in this complaint almost feels embarrassing. This is no hardship compared to what is happening in other parts of the world due to the high emissions of developed nations. Yes, we have all benefitted from fossil fuels but Mr Campbell does not appear to understand that this needs to change urgently. It should not need to be pointed out that there are record-breaking heatwaves, forest fires, floods, droughts, famines and crop failures.
The Highlands will not be affected by climate change as quickly as other parts of the world. Maybe that explains why Mr Campbell appears not to appreciate the bigger picture of what is happening. Or if he does, he does not care if our government continues to neglect its duty to protect our future.
Some former ministers said the OBR’s findings showed that failure to embrace fully the net zero agenda would not only lead to an environmental crisis, but also severe economic consequences for the UK.
I wonder if many of the public are aware that the Ministry of Defence, along with other government departments are preparing for 3-4 degrees of average global warming and anticipate social breakdown and systemic collapse. We are now at 1.2 degrees above pre-industrial times.
The UN, the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change all say there must be no new oil and gas. I hope this shows that JSO are in good company and not just extremists and zealots as Mr Campbell portrays but peaceful people who have a devastatingly important point to make. They are acting to protect their families, loved ones and people around the world. It is understandable that some people find their actions frustrating but until urgent significant action is taken to mitigate for climate change I can’t see them stopping any time soon. The stakes are too high. It would be better for all of us if more people supported the climate movement to drive forward the change that is bound to happen sooner rather than later.
We should remember the suffragettes and the anti-apartheid and civil rights movements as we benefit from their sacrifices. They used more violent measures but are now regarded to have been on the right side of history.
Simon, Inverness
