A controversial road project will take centre stage again today as councillors decide whether to back it – or consign it to history.
Members of the local authority will be asked to vote on a proposal to revive Elgin’s Western Link Road scheme.
Campaigners thought they had won their decade-long battle when Moray Council’s planning committee rejected the development on November 13.
But their joy was short-lived as just two weeks later the economic
development and infrastructure services (ED&I) committee recommended an amended application to build the Western Link Road be tabled “as soon as possible”.
Council bosses and supporters of the road claim it remains a “vital” strategic project for Elgin’s future which is also in the best interests of Moray as a whole.
However, campaigners maintain that the case for the road has not been fully considered, and that dismissing their concerns would “spell a clear end” to any pretence of democracy.
Councillor Stewart Cree, Moray Council’s leader-in-waiting, said: “The best interests of Moray are served by developing this infrastructure.
“Whilst it’s regrettable some communities are affected by the proposal, the greater good has to be for the majority of Moray.
“This project will help us make Elgin somewhere people go to, rather than somewhere people go past.
“None of the members backing this scheme have an axe to grind. They are looking at what’s best for Moray.”
Link road supporter Alastair Kennedy, who is also chairman of Elgin Community Council, said: “As a resident of Elgin, I am very disappointed that some elected members voted against the Western Link Road.
“Unfortunately, there seems to be a parochialism around the subject of the link road, and a lack of forward thinking and planning.
“It’s a well known fact that this route has always been agreed as the most appropriate in terms of cost and, more importantly, as being the best option to free up and maximise the amount of land for future housing development, both in the south-west quadrant of Elgin, but also to some extent in the north of Elgin in the future.
“It has been claimed to be an application which affects the whole of Moray, in which case the objectors amount to 0.85% out of a population of 94,550.
“I am one of the 94,550 who either haven`t objected or who support the WLR.
“I support it as almost a necessity to future development and also to relieving pressure on the New Elgin railway bridge. There are other reasons around future rail traffic increases but affordable housing is a priority to help get people into homes.”
But a spokeswoman for campaigners Elgin Designing Streets Action Group said: “There are numerous concerns that have yet to be addressed, and should merit serious consideration before members agree to continue down this path.
“The case for the road has not been fully considered. Traffic numbers, which during the planning hearing were accepted as being unreliable, need to be updated, and impacts understood.
“The economic figures have had multiple revisions, and the total bill so far, without a spade being lifted, is over £3million and likely to grow.
“Alternative options, which have been proposed in the past, have not been fully explored.
“There is increasing evidence of the detrimental effects of air pollution in relation to school children – levels of urban air pollution are now responsible for similar levels of childhood asthma as passive smoking.
“We also have a number of concerns regarding the governance of the council in this matter.
“Should these concerns be dismissed out of hand, we fear that this will spell a clear end to any pretence of democratic process that the council may have in the eyes of the electorate.”
The Western Link Road would run for about 1,800 yards, connecting Edgar Road with the A96 on the western outskirts of Elgin and providing a new road over the Inverness-Aberdeen railway line.