‘Low-key’ A96 dualling consultation received most responses in final two weeks
Just seven people a day, on average, weighed in on plans to scrap A96 dualling - until an eight-fold surge in responses during the final two weeks.
The Scottish Government has been accused of adopting a “low key approach” toward its 12-week public consultation in a bid to “avoid hearing the widespread anger” over the road.
New figures show that a total of 1400 responses to the A96 Corridor Review, which suggested scrapping plans to dual the A96, were received.
But, according to figures shared with MSPs at the ten-week mark in February, just 500 were submitted in the first ten weeks.
As a result, the final two weeks of the consultation saw the average daily number increased eight-fold from seven to 68.
The final total of responses was revealed by Minister for Employment and Investment Tom Arthur, in response to a question from Conservative Highlands and Islands MSP Douglas Ross.
Mr Ross argued that members of the public had been “either unaware of this review or finding it borderline impossible” to respond to.
He also pinned the sharp increase in responses on his party’s efforts to publicise the consultation after learning of the lack of responses before the final two weeks.
“This latest SNP consultation on the A96 was designed to kick the can down the road once again on dualling the A96,” Mr Ross said.
“SNP ministers had clearly taken a low-key approach to the review to avoid hearing the widespread anger from local people and businesses about their shameful failure to dual the road as they have repeatedly promised since 2011.
“It is clear many people in Moray and across the communities served by the A96 were either unaware of this review or finding it borderline impossible to fill in before many Scottish Conservative MSPs highlighted the low response rate.
“That is typical of SNP ministers who have repeatedly tried to avoid being held to account on their betrayal of communities in Moray and across the North East.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “The position of the Scottish Government has not changed – the current favoured position is to fully dual the A96 and we are already starting the dualling process from Inverness to Nairn, including a Nairn Bypass.
“As part of the then Bute House Agreement, the Scottish Government agreed to undertake a review of the corridor, a lengthy and complex process and we published the outcomes from the Review in draft for consultation last November.
“It was important that local people, businesses and communities were given the opportunity to help inform the government’s final decision on how to take forward improvements to the A96 Corridor.
“It is a sign of the public interest in this work that we received over 1400 responses, which are now under active consideration by Transport Scotland.”
