SAVE BENNACHIE UPDATE

Margaret Garden

The Save Bennachie Campaign is a hugely popular and must-win cause to protect the Bennachie area from the new, re-routed A96 dual carriageway. Two of the routes currently under consideration would impact the foothills of Bennachie, one especially severely. We are deeply grateful to the North East Mountain Trust for your continued and highly valued support as part of the Save Bennachie Alliance.

The current situation is that Amey Arup Joint Venture has recently been appointed for a 20 year, £50 million contract, covering the design and delivery of the Huntly-Aberdeen, Eastern Section of the road. The first 2 years of this contract will be crucial to the future of unspoiled Bennachie as we have come to know and love it- the consultants will assess the various route options to arrive at their preferred choice which they will take to the Ministers for Transport and Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, who will make the final decision. That's why it's so important for us to raise public awareness now of what is a very real threat to Bennachie.

Our membership is ever expanding, with over 800 individual members, and nearly 2500 Facebook followers. The Save Bennachie Alliance, where groups like the NEMT team up with our individual members is key to the campaign. The Alliance membership now represents tens of thousands of people.

With our ethos of running a positive, constructive, strictly non political campaign, we have been working hard throughout the past year to influence the decision makers. We are delighted to have received the support of all North East MSPs, our MP and Lord Bruce of Bennachie. We have had countless meetings with local councillors, transport bodies, and council officials, and we are in regular dialogue with Transport Scotland. Given our level of public and political support, we are calling on the design consultants to meet with us to engage in meaningful consultation.

Our One Year On Report, detailing our findings and arguments, will shortly be published. You may have seen our banners in the Bennachie area, and we have just produced car stickers to raise awareness of the situation. Full details of our campaign can be found at www.savebennachie.com and if you would like to display a car sticker we will be delighted! Just email us at hello@savebennachie.com

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