The Argyll First group of Councillors – Donald Kelly, John McAlpin, Duncan MacIntyre, Robert E MacIntyre and Dougie Philand, were yesterday made aware that their petition calling for a permanent solution to the problems which currently exist on the A83 at the Rest and be Thankful will be heard by the Scottish Parliament Petitions Committee on the 17th of February 2015.
This is the second time the group have petitioned the committee, the first being their successful ‘Sign for the A83’ campaign. They are delighted that their original campaign has achieved plans to remove the pinch points on the A83 at Inveraray and between the villages of Ardrishiag and Tarbert; the installation of a safe pedestrian crossing point at the village of Tarbert and – a major success – the trunking of the road between Kennacraig and Campbeltown. The fourth – and most important – element of their petition was to achieve a permanent solution to the problems at the Rest and be Thankful, However, this has not been achieved thus far, hence the re -petitioning of the committee.
The group says: ‘The original campaign was supported by over 10,000 members of the public, over 400 businesses, countless MSPs and Argyll and Bute Council. It is patently clear to all that the measures currently put in place by the Scottish Government are wholly inadequate and have not provided the permanent solution as previously promised. On 17th February 2015 Argyll First will, yet again, on behalf of the constituents and businesses of Argyll and Bute, make the case for a permanent solution to be found and fully funded.’
Highlands and Islands MSP, Jamie McGrigor, a persistent campaigner himself for the A83, has congratulated Argyll First on their achievement, saying: ‘I welcome the fact that the Councillors have lodged a second petition on the A83 with the Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee and that the Committee will consider the petition in February. Lodging a petition is a good way to keep up the profile of this very important subject and I hope Committee members will agree to take the petition forward.
‘The last ‘Sign for the A83’ petition which was also considered by the Committee attracted very significant public support and helped to achieve real results in terms of addressing issues like the pinch points on the A83 and the re-trunking of the road between Kennacraig and Campbeltown. However, the Councillors are right to continue to campaign and press the Scottish Government on the key issue of securing a permanent solution to keep the road open at the Rest & Be Thankful section. I commend them for their efforts on the A83 and I am continuing to call on the Scottish Government to look again at all options for a long-term solution to deal with landslips at the Rest & Be Thankful, including the canopy option.
‘As I have argued many times before, the A83 trunk road is a lifeline link for all of Argyll & Bute and local businesses and residents simply cannot afford to face repeated and lengthy closures of this route such as we saw most recently in late October.’
Text of the ‘Calling Letter’ from the Petitions Committee to Argyll First
‘From: Chris.Hynd@scottish.parliament.uk [mailto:Chris.Hynd@scottish.parliament.uk]
Sent: 15 December 2014 14:11
To: Philand, Dougie
Subject: PE1540
Dear Dougie
I am writing to confirm that your petition has been formally lodged with the Scottish Parliament and will be considered by the Public Petitions Committee (PPC) at its meeting on Tuesday 17 February. The meeting will be held at the Parliament in Edinburgh, and is scheduled to start at 10.00 am. Your petition is scheduled to be the second evidence session that day and will start at around 10.45 am. I appreciate that there is a bit of a wait until your petition is considered – the Committee meets fortnightly and has two meetings in January before the one on 17 February so as the agendas for these meetings are set then your petition has gone on the next available agenda.
You can view your petition’s webpage at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/A83permanentsolution.
Invitation to speak to your petition
The Committee has decided to invite you to attend this meeting to enable you to set out in further detail what your petition seeks and why. The intention in hearing from you is not to simply repeat information already provided in the petition; it is an opportunity for you to elaborate, clarify or amplify the issues behind your petition and help broaden the Committee’s understanding in response to the Committee’s questions.
The Committee’s invitation is to you, the petitioner, to attend and speak as part of the Committee’s preliminary consideration of the petition. Should you wish to request that somebody else be allowed to sit at the Committee table with you, I would be grateful if you would provide their contact details, the organisation or body that they represent or whether they are related to you (and, if so, in what capacity) and their involvement in or knowledge about the issues raised in the petition. This information should be provided a week in advance of the meeting. It will then be for the Committee to decide whether it is willing to extend its invitation to that individual.
At the meeting, the Convener will invite you to make an opening statement of no longer than 5 minutes after which the Committee will move to questions. I would expect the session on your petition to last for around 30 to 45 minutes. The meeting will be held in public and will be broadcast and recorded in the Official Report (the substantially verbatim transcript). If you have any specific requirements in relation to accessing the venue, disabled parking, the services of an interpreter, induction loop facilities, lip speaker or any other aspect of the meeting, please contact me as soon as possible so that these services can be arranged.
You should also be aware of the Parliament’s visitor code of conduct for those attending Committee meetings and that can be found on the Parliament’s website at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/visitandlearn/31120.aspx.
