Margaret
GardenMargaret
Garden
The Save Bennachie Campaign have now been involved in 3 meetings with senior personnel from Amey Arup Joint Venture. They are responsible for choosing the route of the new A96 dual carriageway and designing the Eastern Section, Huntly-Aberdeen. This dual carriageway will be one down from a motorway, so there will only be 4-5 junctions on this section, with no right turns allowed, so access roads will also be required.
They started with 150 potential alignments, and are distilling these down to 10-30 credible alignments/combinations of alignments, which they will take to public consultation events in October. They work collaboratively with Transport Scotland, who will have endorsed the assessments taken forward to these meetings.
The Save Bennachie Campaign are calling on as many people as possible to attend these events. We will publicise details once available. NB For those unable to attend, they encourage you to write to them with your comments/input, within 30 days of the meetings. See below for details. Amey Arup Joint Venture say the information gained from the public at these events will help with their decision making. Their timeframe to arrive at their preferred alignment for the dual carriageway is summer 2019.
This assessment period is therefore critical for the future of an unspoiled Bennachie. The decisions Amey Arup arrive at will be evidence led. That’s why during these meetings Save Bennachie have been providing data to them on all our arguments. In addition to the wide-ranging information contained within Save Bennachie's 2018 Campaign Report, information has been delivered on wildlife, archaeology, folklore, Bennachie's unique history and much more. They have also been signposted towards further sources of information.
We have, of course, updated them upon the overwhelming level of public support to protect Bennachie as both our individual and Alliance Group membership continues to expand. Behind the scenes, we continue to work collaboratively with all the MSPs who are backing us and have already made contact with Michael Matheson, the new Cabinet Secretary responsible for taking the final decision.
The period from now till summer 2019 is absolutely critical to the future of
our beloved hill which is facing a very real threat. Your support as a group
is greatly appreciated, now as an individual please look out for the dates and
venues and try to attend the public meetings in October, or write in with your
comments on the alignments. See our website for further details https://www.savebennachie.com
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