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June 2006
The next day of action for a by-pass for Maybole is this
Saturday, June 3. Anyone interested in joining the
protest is invited to meet at the Town Hall car park at
10.45am. Peter Mason, chair of the By-pass Committee
said at the weekend, “Because of holidays, trips, etc.
we expect our numbers to be down and would ask the
people who regularly turn up to bring one other person
with them, people they know agree with the protest but
have never been on it.”
In the background there is still an
argument going on about signs saying the pelican
crossing lights were not working at the Easter weekend.
Mr Mason and others in Maybole maintain that there were
no signs erected until after Easter Sunday but Amey and
Transport Scotland insist they were there before the
holiday weekend. They also maintain that the signs were
collected by Amey on April 20 – yet Mr Mason has photos
showing the signs still there in mid-May! He has been in
touch with Cathy Jamieson MSP who has been subsequently
in touch with Amey and Transport Scotland. more about
the by-pass.
Malcolm Reed, chief executive of
Transport contacted the MSP recently saying, “Thank you
for your e-mail of 26 April on behalf of your
constituent Mr Peter Mason about recent
problems which have arisen with the pedestrian crossing
signals on the A77 trunk road in Maybole.
I am aware that this crossing was subject to a number of
failures last summer and Amey carried out detailed
investigation work to find out the underlying cause. All
the main components were replaced at that time, some
repeatedly, and Amey has expressed concern at these
further failures. Amey's performance in repairing the
crossing on this occasion did not comply with our
Contract and Amey apologises for this. Officials in the
Trunk Road Network Management Directorate have already
asked Amey to maintain stocks of spare parts to minimise
such problems in future.
I note that Mr Mason's communication with
you is largely in connection with events of Tuesday 19
April and, in particular, the question of whether a sign
was provided to advise motorists that the crossing was
not functioning. This has been
investigated with Amey who advise that although such
signs are not normally displayed for failure of a
pedestrian crossing, they were erected on this occasion
in response
to Mr Mason's insistence. Amey confirms
that the signs were placed at 16.40 hours on Thursday 13
April and were noted by Amey personnel in position at
various times during the following weekend.
Amey can offer no explanation for the
temporary removal of the signs other than they were
removed
without Amey's knowledge or authority.
The signs were collected by Amey on completion of the
works to repair the signals on 20 April.
Although I also note Mr Mason's comments
regarding his discussions with Amey, I would point out
that their contract requires only that they provide a
means for members of the public to report defects on the
network. These are logged and prioritised for repair
within the timescales laid down. While their Control
Room staff are also happy to give general
information, where available, there is no requirement to
engage in detailed discussion on
individual issues. Similarly, Amey's Media Officers are
engaged to
provide liaison with members of the press
and it is unclear why Mr Mason made such contact when he
had been repeatedly advised that the
matter was in hand.
Amey will continue to keep the crossing
installation under close scrutiny but, in the meantime,
they ask that their apologies for delay in carrying out
repairs be conveyed to your constituents.”
Mr Mason points out that April 19 was a
Wednesday not a Tuesday and so far has had no reply to
his claim that he has photographs clearly showing the
signs still there in May.
*******
Maybole’s campaign
for a bypass moves to Edinburgh this week when Tranport
Minister Tavish Scott will meet a delegation from the
town. The visit to Holyrodd has been arranged by Cathy
Jamieson MSP and the Bypass Committee has also been in
touch with other MSPs and to enlist broad cross party
support. On Friday Conservative MSPs Phil Gallie and
Derek Brownlee visited Maybole to see the problem first
hand. Peter Mason, chairman of the Bypass Committee,
outlined the history of the campaign to the MSPs adding
that it seemed that more and more they had been “fobbed
off”.
Nicol Stephen MSP,
Tavish Scott’s predecessor as Transport Minister and now
depute First Minister had visited Maybole on the 8th
December 2003 and announced funding for an initial study
to look at the option of a Maybole Bypass on the A77
trunk road. Local people had welcomed this announcement
which was seen as a positive move to improve safety and
congestion in Maybole. The Scottish Executive had then
appointed Atkins to carry out a Scottish Transport
Appraisal Guidance (STAG) analysis for Maybole.
Atkins had
reported their preliminary findings to Maybole Community
Council’s AGM in May 2005 and the full report was to be
published in autumn last year. The concern now was why
was it taking so long for the report to be published.
Phil Gallie said he needed “no convincing of the need
for a bypass for Maybole” which he described as “a
critical area”. Derek Brownlee was also happy to have
the opportunity to meet the committee and the two MSPs
discussed methods of helping the campaign move on.
Written and oral questions in the Parliament were
considered as were motions and debates.
Mr Gallie said it
was essential to keep the impetus going and to involve
everyone especially Cathy Jamison who is the
constituency MSP. He was sure most politicians were
sympathetic, although he did not think the Green Party
would come on board. On Saturday morning, however, Green
Party MSP Chris Balance visited Maybole with his wife
Alice and their 11 week old son Calum.
He told the committee, “Scottish
Green Party policy is to oppose major new trunk road
building in
Scotland, except for by-passes of small towns or
villages severed by a major traffic artery causing major
social, environmental and safety problems.”
He said he would like to read the STAG appraisal before
finally committing himself, adding, “In principle there
are very clear grounds for supporting a Maybole by-pass.
The A77 cuts the town in two, the huge volume of road
traffic creates major social,
environmental and
safety problems, and a by-pass would transform the
quality of life of residents.”
He went on to say
that Greens are dismayed that the Executive is
abandoning its targets for traffic reduction saying,
“Road traffic is a leading producer of climate change
gasses, kills hundreds of people in Scotland each year
and adds to social exclusion. But if a single
carriageway, speed controlled by-pass could be built
without causing undue damage along its route, then I
would be very pleased to consider supporting it.”
He concluded, “A
by-pass for Maybole would certainly bring far more
social and environmental benefits than the £500billion
M74 inner city motorway the Executive are proposing for
Glasgow.”
Mr
Balance has also tabled a question “To
ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the Atkins
STAG appraisal of a by-pass for Maybole will be
published, and why it has not yet been published given
that the Minister promised on 9th March that Part One
would be published ‘in the next few weeks’."
After meeting the
three MSPs Mr Mason said that there were plans to meet
Sandra Osborne MP this coming Friday and Adam Ingram MSP
the next day. He spoke of the support the committee has
received and all members agreed that the response was
very encouraging. “We were further encouraged with
e-mails of support from Struan Stevenson MEP, and Alex
Ferguson MSP,” he said.
Struan Stevenson
had written to Nicol Stephen saying, “I spent twenty two
years as a Councillor on Kyle and Carrick District
Council fighting for a Maybole by-pass. The situation
has deteriorated since them, with much heavier volumes
of traffic and bigger lorries choking the narrow main
street. I have never driven through the town without
having to wait in a queue to make way for on-coming
traffic. It is dangerous, polluted and bad for
business. The town is so congested no tourist would be
attracted to stop.
I urge you to do
all you can to ensure that a by-pass is constructed at
the earliest possible opportunity. All this delay is
deeply frustrating as I am sure you can appreciate.”
Alex Fergusson had
emailed saying, “As
a resident of Barr village from 1956 to 1999, I
wholeheartedly support your campaign and, although
Parliamentary protocol forbids me from openly
representing you, you may be assured of my support
wherever it can legitimately be given.”
*******
At the last meeting of Maybole By-pass Committee, it was
a unanimous decision that the campaign should be stepped
up in various ways. The committee agreed that a protest
should be held outside the Scottish Parliament to lobby
MSPs about the lack of the publication of the STAG
report for the feasibility for a by-pass for Maybole.
Peter Mason, chair of the committee, said, “This
document should have been available last autumn. We have
a copy of a letter responding to a letter sent by Cathy
Jamieson, our local MSP with regard this issue. In a
reply from the Roads Minister, Tavish Scott, dated 9th
March 2006 he states ‘I can confirm that part 1 STAG
appraisal for the by-pass is expected to be published in
the next few weeks’. Mr Mason added, ‘In my language a
few weeks means two or three weeks not 14 and still
counting, or am I wrong? Is this just more politicians’
talk?’ He continued, “On Thursday 29th June a visit to
the Scottish Parliament has been arranged with the help
of Cathy Jamieson.
Ms Jamieson has arranged for a delegation of campaigners
to listen to the First Minister's Question Time and the
opportunity will be given to put the case for a by-pass
for Maybole to the Roads Minister, Tavish Scott. “This
Friday 23rd of June at 11.30am, Phil Gallie, MSP, will
be visiting Maybole to listen to our views first hand.
Phil Gallie has been a supporter for a by-pass for the
town for many years. “On Saturday 24th June at 11.30 am,
Chris Ballance MSP (Green Party) will also visit the
capital of Carrick. Chris knows this area well and has
already put forward a question to the parliament on the
lack of the STAG report being published. “The following
Saturday, 30th June at 11am, Sandra Osborne MP is also
meeting with the committee.
Sandra has supported the campaign since being voted an
elected member to the Westminster Parliament. “All list
MSPs have been e-mailed asking for their support for the
campaign and to date a very promising response has been
received from the majority of them confirming their
support and also looking for further information.” The
next committee meeting will be held this week mainly to
discuss the protest at the Scottish Parliament and the
date of the next protest in Maybole. A further report
will be forthcoming after this meeting. If any members
of the public would like to be informed individually of
the date of the next protest please telephone Peter
Mason 01655 882660. Mr Mason also said, “If any members
of the public would like to join in the protest outside
Scottish Parliament, please contact me as soon as
possible.”
******* |
A BYPASS for Maybole remains well
out of reach. That was the blunt message from a Holyrood minister to MSP
Cathy Jamieson. "Unfortunately, given limited resources, such solutions
are not always possible," deputy transport minister Lewis Macdonald has
told her. Ms Jamieson had written to him on behalf of worried constituents
in Maybole, Mauchline and New Cumnock. But none of the three towns is
earmarked for a bypass in the current programme of improvements. And Mr
Macdonald wrote back to Ms Jamieson: "While we are continuing to identify
priorities for future roads programmes, all potential schemes stand to be
judged in the light of competing national demands." He goes on: "I realise
that many residents of these communities view a bypass as essential to
effecting improvements in levels of safety and comfort." But he highlights
the Scottish Executive's `limited resources' and adds: "In certain
situations, the best response is afforded by relatively low-cost measures
to constrain the speed and access of through traffic. "In recent years,
such steps have been taken to good effect in all three towns." Mr
Macdonald points out: "As regards road improvements more generally, there
are six schemes scheduled for the A77 and four for the A76 over the next
three years, representing an estimated investment of some £10.75m. "These
works target a number of maintenance and improvement issues."
From the Ayrshire Post of February 15th, 2002.
