Holy Mother of Jesus: AWPR Approved

[mizer]

He does relish going to work though.

[Ajja]

Why do they need 3 lanes Slim ? The Edinburgh By-pass is only 2 and other than in rush hour, traffic moves freely. Surely Aberdeen doesn't need any more with less than half the city and surrounding area population than Edinburgh ?

[Slim]

Why do they need 3 lanes Slim ? The Edinburgh By-pass is only 2 and other than in rush hour, traffic moves freely. Surely Aberdeen doesn't need any more with less than half the city and surrounding area population than Edinburgh ?

 

One of the main ports in the region for offshore supply boats is in Peterhead. The main industrial areas in Aberdeen where the equipment for going offshore is located is mostly to the south and the west of the city. That means the road will be full of HGV's taking up one of the lanes almost continuously.

 

Aberdeen's roads are chock full of absolute morons who have no idea how to overtake or use the overtaking lane. We'll have a two lane road with traffic crawling along at 56mph in both lanes. And that's only when the HGV's will get up to top speed after the numerous stops and starts for the roundabouts and traffic lights clogging up the road. And thanks to those roundabouts and traffic lights, everyone wanting to turn right at the next junction will inevitably crawl along the righthand lane for 2 miles or so. If they sensibly had slip roads, anyone slowing down to get ready to exit the road would be confined to the lefthand lane.

 

And you've got to bare in mind that this road will be the backbone of Aberdeen's road network for the next 100 years, so we've got to be mindful of future usage. There's no point building a road that will cope with the traffic flow today. More and more cars are on our roads every year and that trend is going to continue realistically.

 

It tends to be a massive task to widen roads in built-up areas. As the Aberdeen bypass is being built on isolated greenbelt land most of the way round, I think it would be prudent to build it a bit bigger as it's inevitable that with it being a main road, it will attract developers to build either side of it and it'll soon end up like Anderson Drive (the original Aberdeen bypass) is today.

[Ajja]

So there is no point being short-sighted and building a road to cope with todays traffic needs but they should be accounting for 'moronic' driving when building it. I'd love to be at that traffic planning meeting.

 

 

[Edinburghdon]

So there is no point being short-sighted and building a road to cope with todays traffic needs but they should be accounting for 'moronic' driving when building it. I'd love to be at that traffic planning meeting.

 

To be honest I think slim has a point about the proposed route being littered with traffic lights and roundabouts.  Your right Ajja the Edinburgh bypass works very well with two lanes, however the Edinburgh bypass seems properly planned using slip lanes etc instead of the roundabouts/traffic lights proposed for the AWPR.  There's really no point only planning for current traffic levels, it needs to be done in a way that takes into account future traffic levels.  Anything else would be short sighted in the extreme.

 

 

[baggy89]

To be honest I'd be inclined to agree with Slim. You only have to take a second; look at the Haudigan and realise the nonsensical approach to planning, two lanes and round-abouts brings to Aberdeen. While I understand your point about Edinburgh you have to understand the village mentality coupled with the type of industry that exists around Aberdeen.

 

A lot of heavy industrial traffic bypasses Edinburgh via Perth through Glasgow and onwards to Englandshire. I'd bet most of Edinburgh's commuter traffic is office based and used to city driving and infrastructure supported alternative transportation methods.  I would also bet there are very few Massey Ferguson's chugging along with a Marshall trailer coupled?

 

Aberdeen and the Shire's major downfall, is that it has this ingrained superiority complex.

 

Over the last thirty years or so we have had an enormous opportunity to become one of the worlds most important cities and we've fucked it up with the village mentality. If, and I'm sure he is correct, as Slim says the WPR is to be built in such a way it, will sum up how un-forward thinking we (Scotland) have become as a nation. This is a sad indictment of probably the most gifted nation in the World in terms of intelligence, and worse considering the resources that we have on our door-step.

[Madbadteacher]

To be honest I think slim has a point about the proposed route being littered with traffic lights and roundabouts.  Your right Ajja the Edinburgh bypass works very well with two lanes, however the Edinburgh bypass seems properly planned using slip lanes etc instead of the roundabouts/traffic lights proposed for the AWPR.  There's really no point only planning for current traffic levels, it needs to be done in a way that takes into account future traffic levels.  Anything else would be short sighted in the extreme.

 

Driving down the A90 last night from Aberdeen to Edinburgh I was repeatedly held up by drivers "overtaking" in the outer lane at 55 - 65 mph. No concept of "get past then pull in" they'd sit there for mile after mile!

 

Now ok, 55 across the WPR is better than 25 on Anderson Drive, but if there's roundabouts, junctions, big lorries and twats then I forsee regular carnage and the road being closed for an accident just about every day!

 

It needs to be bulit like a motorway with slip roads and nea "blocks"

[Kowalski]

Objectors could delay new bypass

campaigners confirm they plan to mount legal challenge to AwPR

 

By Calum Ross

 

Published: 26/03/2010

 

A legal challenge by objectors could delay the building of Aberdeen’s long-awaited bypass by more than a year.

 

Campaign group Road Sense confirmed last night it plans to go to the Court of Session to try to block plans for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR).

 

One legal expert said the move could delay the scheme by up to 18 months.

 

Objectors and landowners have six weeks to lodge a challenge after the Scottish Government published acquisition orders for the compulsory purchase of the ground needed for the 28-mile ring road.

 

The project has been on the drawing board for decades – and was first included in the city’s local plan of 1952.

 

Aberdeen North MSP Brian Adam said any further delays would not be welcomed by the north-east public.

 

“Road Sense is entitled to act as it sees fit, but whatever sympathy there may have been for those directly affected will vanish if they try to use the courts as a delaying tactic,†the SNP MSP said.

 

“There is no doubt at all that what the Scottish Government have done is completely within the law.â€

 

Finance Secretary John Swinney announced in December that the Milltimber Brae route for the bypass, which leaves the Stonehaven-Aberdeen stretch of the A90 at Charleston, crosses the River Dee at Milltimber, loops west of Kingswells and rejoins the Aberdeen-Peterhead leg of the A90 at Blackdog north of the city, had been approved.

 

But doubts have already been cast on the estimated 2012 completion date for the project.

 

Road Sense’s vice-chairman Henry Irvine-Fortescue said: “We have already taken legal advice, which is ongoing at the moment, and in the very near future we will be formulating our strategy to oppose these orders.

 

“We would be looking to challenge the minister’s decision in the Court of Session. We are going down the judicial review course.â€

 

Elaine Farquharson-Black is head of planning and environmental law at Paull and Williamsons legal firm, and co-wrote a book on compulsory purchase orders.

 

She said the government could technically acquire the land within three months – but that a challenge could see the court suspend the acquisition orders until a hearing was held.

 

“Any challenge would delay the implementation of the AWPR until the matter had been resolved,†she said.

 

“It is not unusual in Court of Session challenges to have to wait up to a year for a hearing and then to wait between three and six months for a decision.â€

 

The government estimates the bypass will cost between £295million and £395million – but Road Sense believes the bill will top £1billion.

 

A spokesman for Transport Scotland said: “Following parliamentary approval earlier this month of the scheme and trunk road orders for the AWPR, the remaining orders and compulsory purchase orders have now been made and notices, which are required by statute, will be advertised on March 26.

 

“We are not aware of any legal challenge."

 

:hammer:

 

But I don't think it's due for completion in 2012!

[daytripping]

The people that object to this road being built should be told to GTF, either that or they should be forced to drive between Dyce and Stonehaven in the rush hours every working day. 

 

What is it with Aberdeen and Nimby minorities trying to spoil things for the majority, Trump golf course, Civic square, AWPR, 3rd Don crossing et al......

 

Away and hug a tree you backward thinking chunts, with people like you in charge we'd still be living in caves and chasing after deer for our suppers.

[daytripping]

Road sense chairman "Henry Irvine-Fortescue"

 

I'd be surprised if he's fae Tilly! 

[daytripping]

Henry in front of his humble abode!

 

[dave_min]

Arseholes, I take it neither of them are locals? Do you think either of them could find Aberdeen on a map? This is almost as dumb as those Plane Stupid Weegie arseholes.

[baggy89]

Henry in front of his humble abode!

 

 

Rick Mayall must have fallen on hard times of late, nannying for the Irvine-Fortescues.

[glasgow sheep]

Henry in front of his humble abode!

 

Has the posh tory twat and his wife/mother/gran/aunt/sister kidnapped those kids using Rick Mayall as their lacky?

What a fucking bunch of weirdos.

[daytripping]

The worst thing he's saying we in Aberdeen don't have a roads problem and he only started the campaign when the route next to his house was chosen, NIMBY!

 

His group are going out looking for red squirrels and rare animals, they state they don't know if they're there but have gave gave out checklists of things to look for.................so he's never given a shyte about the red squirrels or newts before and doesn't know if they live there but is now hunting for them.

 

I hate people like him, backward leftie no doubt.

[glasgow sheep]

oh for fuck sake give it up

 

Ministers face court challenge over £400m bypass decision

 

Rob Edwards

Share  0 comments

 

25 Apr 2010

 

Plans for one of Scotland’s major new roads will be thrown into doubt this week when campaigners announce they are taking the Scottish Government to court.

 

The Sunday Herald can reveal that a ministerial decision to give the go-ahead to the £400 million Aberdeen bypass is to be challenged in the Court of Session by the local campaign group, Road Sense.

 

Legal opinions commissioned by the group make its members “quietly confident†they will be able to trip up ministers for failing to ensure that the road and its damaging impacts were given proper and lawful consideration.

 

They say a public inquiry was unfairly restricted and its findings inadequate. They also allege the road violates the rights of those facing eviction along its route, and could breach European law by damaging colonies of bats.

 

“We have been forced into taking this action after years of being sidelined, stonewalled, ignored and misinformed,†said William Walton, chairman of Road Sense. The group has been opposing the bypass, known as the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR), for more than four years.

 

Mr Walton said: “Scottish ministers’ decision to limit the scope and remit of the public local inquiry into the AWPR made the inquiry nothing more than window dressing, and the concerns and arguments of the majority of the 10,000 objectors to the new road were never properly heard.

 

“In a democratic country, the courts are the final check against abuse of power by public bodies and government. Successive Scottish ministers may now live to regret having been so heavy handed, unfair and unreasonable.â€

 

The AWPR, planned to run 28 miles around Aberdeen from Stonehaven in the south past Dyce in the north, was given the go-ahead by Cabinet Finance Secretary John Swinney last December.

 

Road Sense has this weekend instructed lawyers to lodge papers in the Court of Session in Edinburgh requesting a judicial review. It will also be applying to limit its costs, although the case could cost as much as £100,000 and an appeal for funds is also being launched.

 

Sheona Warnock of Road Sense said: “We still have some way to go to get to the stage where we can be sure that any defeat in the courts will not cause us immense financial difficulty, but we cannot sit back and allow the AWPR to be built on a foundation of self-interest, misinformation and poor judgment.â€

 

Friends of the Earth Scotland backed the legal move. “New roads such as this are an expensive waste of public money, and tend to increase climate-changing emissions for little, if any, economic gain,†said the environmental group’s chief executive, Duncan McLaren.

 

But the news is likely to be attacked as a delaying tactic by businesses and local politicians who want the new road.

 

A Scottish Government spokesman said the AWPR would “provide a much-needed bypass around Aberdeen linking existing major roads and key locations such as the airport, park-and-ride sites and the major industrial estatesâ€.

 

The road been given the go-ahead “following due legal processâ€, he stated. “The need for the scheme has been well established in principle and justified in policy and strategy terms. We will consider the terms of any legal challenge, if and when we receive one.â€

[Madbadteacher]

Jesus Christ!

 

Lets all wear sackcloth and use lamps filled with whale oil!

[BobbyBiscuit]

Jesus Christ!

 

Lets all wear sackcloth and use lamps filled with whale oil!

 

Good to see you're finally catching up with new millenium fashion in Aberdeen.

[daytripping]

Think of the bats!

 

Poor blighters might have to move 50 feet to the right or left!

 

 

[mini59dons]

Anybody work for AMEC?

 

Does your IT policy allow you to use work email for politcal or personal use?

 

From www.road-sense.org

 

Charleston - Neil McAllan

Neil.McAllan@amec.com

[mizer]

Anybody work for AMEC?

 

Does your IT policy allow you to use work email for politcal or personal use?

 

From www.road-sense.org

 

Sign him up to some porn 

[Kowalski]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east_orkney_and_shetland/10136338.stm

 

Costs associated with a planned bypass for Aberdeen are about to breach the £100m mark, the BBC has learned.

 

The project's managing agents confirmed that they had spent more than £99m on preparatory work and the compulsory purchase of properties.

 

More than half of the cash was spent relocating the city's International School away from the planned route.

 

Campaigners said the costs called into question the reality of the project's £400m total budget.

 

The aim of the scheme is to create a fast link between towns to the north, west and south of Aberdeen.

 

William Walton from the group Road Sense, which has lodged an appeal against the route at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, said: "It's an astronomical sum of money which I think the public should be very concerned about.

 

"The reason that it's got to this state of affairs is because the minister chose a corridor that had not been investigated then had to select a route and do a great deal of investigatory work."

 

In a statement, the project's managing agent John Wilson said such levels of spending were required to design, develop and promote a cost-effective scheme.

 

He said the planning and acquisition of properties in advance of any construction work would help avoid disruption to the timetable.

 

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson has admitted the legal appeal against the chosen bypass route could delay the project's completion.

 

The scheme was due to be finished in 2012. 

[dave_min]

How is that even newsworthy?

 

The preparatory work and the compulsory purchase of properties was never gonna be free, was it budgeted that this would cost £99million?

 

Awful article.

 

 

[Kowalski]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-14489401

 

Just crack on and build the fucking thing.

 

[mizer]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-14489401

 

Aberdeen bypass: Judge rules against legal challenge

 

A judge has ruled against campaigners who are trying to block the building of a bypass around Aberdeen.

 

They argued that a public inquiry into the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (APWR) had been flawed.

 

Lord Tyre rejected the appeal on the grounds there had been sufficient opportunities before the hearing for public representations to be made.

 

The £400m project had been delayed by the court proceedings at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

 

Lord Tyre ruled against two appeals heard together;

 

    one brought by William Walton on behalf of anti Aberdeen bypass group, Roadsense

    the other from John Weir Fraser and Mrs Maggie Fraser

 

Both appeals argued that the procedure had been unfair because the inquiry held in 2008 was given an unreasonably restricted remit.

 

There were also two separate challenges, based upon obligations of Scottish ministers under the Habitats Directive.

 

One related to the impact of the scheme on the River Dee Special Area of Conservation (SAC), the other to the disturbance of European protected species (otters and five species of bat).

 

Again the court rejected these arguments and found that Scottish ministers did sufficiently address all of the relevant requirements.

 

Opponents criticise the cost and environmental impact of the plan, which is aimed at creating a fast link to the north, west and south of Aberdeen.

Infrastructure link

 

The bypass was originally given the go-ahead by Scottish ministers in December 2009 following a lengthy public inquiry.

 

Many business leaders in the area support the project.

 

SNP and Aberdeen Central MSP Kevin Stewart welcomed the ruling saying it was excellent news for Aberdeen and the North East.

 

He added: "The AWPR is a vital infrastructure link for the North East and for Scotland as a whole.

 

"Getting the go ahead for this road will boost the economy, cut congestion and improve links across the region.

 

But anti bypass campaigner, Sheona Warnock, from Roadsense, said: "We are hugely disappointed. It's been a very long and hard fought campaign.

 

"We thought we made some very good points.

 

"We will need sometime to consider his judgement.

 

"We haven't got to the point of considering an appeal."