Minister accused of 'evasive' answers over weakening of by-pass case - Munro

12.00.00am GMT Thu 12th Mar 2009

Ross, Skye & Inverness West MSP John Farquhar Munro has expressed disappointment with 'evasive' answers given by the Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson over key alterations which were made to the case for the Inverness by-pass at a late stage in the Government's transport review.

Mr Munro had tabled questions requesting details of extensive additional evidence which is said to have justified the changes - even after the full first draft, and the final list of recommendations, had been prepared in July last year.

Asked who had authorised changes, the Minister said these had been made by consultants and then approved by the Project Team made up of his officials. He did not address clear evidence revealed last month in a Freedom of Information request that government officials had effectively requested the changes.

Explaining why the economic benefits of the by-pass were downplayed, and then neutralised, the Minister referred Mr Munro to the summary assessment of the by-pass, providing no evidence at all for the altered claims made there.

Tackling the exaggeration of the project's environmental impact, the Minister highlighted an appendix to the report which seems to confirm the first version of the by-pass assessment - a 'moderate adverse impact' overall - rather than the altered version which indicates both major and moderate adverse impacts.

In yet another appendix, linked to from the text, the Inverness by-pass environmental assessment begins with the surprising assessment that: "New road infrastructure would require additional land-take that could affect biodiversity interests. The Firth of Tay and Eden Estuary Ramsar, SAC and SPA is within 0.5km of the intervention."

Commenting on the answers, Mr Munro said:

"It is extremely disappointing that the Minister does not seem to want to get to the bottom of the reasons why the Inverness by-pass case was undermined.

"Mr Stevenson has said that he did not make any changes to the STPR prior to publication, but in that case I find it all the more surprising that he seems not to want to know who did.

"Whoever it was, the Minister is sure that major new evidence came to light after July to justify the changes. But he then seems reluctant to put that evidence - which presumably he has seen - before Parliament or before the people of Inverness.

"I fully intend to keep asking until he does so, and until the Government reverses its disastrous decision to ditch its promise to build the by-pass."

Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey MP Danny Alexander added:

"I am pleased that the Minister agreed earlier this week to look again at the Government's approach to the southern by-pass, but we need to see the detail.

"In the meantime, I hope the SNP will now accept that there are serious flaws in the STPR's analysis. If nothing else, part of the Inverness environmental impact assessment is about wildlife reserves somewhere near St Andrews!

"All the evidence - on the ground and in the five thousand pages of report - points to the original (July) assessment of the by-pass being the correct one.

"I hope the Minister will move on from this episode by making it clear that he will abandon the unnecessary and unhelpful division of the by-pass into two separate parts. He can then approve the whole project and name the date for work to begin.

"When the by-pass is taken as a whole, its national, regional and local significance needs little explanation."

ENDS