Link road leaflet blitz going ahead
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EVERY house in Elgin will receive an information leaflet on the proposed Western Link Road as the council presses on with the multi-million pound project.
From next week, residents and businesses in the town will get a pamphlet entitled ‘Managing Elgin’s Traffic’ dropped through their letter-boxes.
Designed to explain the background to the £15 million road project, it also includes a ‘Facts’ section and information on ‘What happens next’.
It also attempts to address some of the concerns raised about the scheme, and gives details about existing and future traffic flows around Elgin.
Approximately 16,500 leaflets are being produced in-house and delivered by the Royal Mail, at a cost of £897.
The pamphlet states: “The council believe the Western Link Road (WLR) is vital for the prosperity of the area, the safe distribution of traffic between main roads, and to reduce the congestion that will inevitably increase over the next 15 years.
“However, this is clearly not a view shared by all, and we continue to work to explain the wider benefits.”
A council spokesman said a planning application will be submitted once the detailed design has been completed.
“At that time the public can register their views as part of the application process, and these are taken into account when a decision is made. Although not classed as a major application, given the interest in the scheme the council is treating it as such to allow public comment.
“More information will be released once this planning process has commenced, giving the public plenty of opportunity to register comments.”
The road has been one of the most controversial issues in Elgin’s recent history, first mooted under the area’s local development plan in 2000.
Last December, the council agreed a new outline design for the road and voted to proceed with Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) for 26 separate plots needed to allow the scheme to proceed.
That decision came just weeks after crowds from both ends of the planned route marched to a public exhibition in opposition to the plan.
Petitions with more than 1,000 signatures were presented to the local authority at the time.
Opponents said the council continued to ignore the weight of public opinion against the proposal, which would see traffic in the west of Elgin linked to New Elgin via Wittet Drive, a new railway bridge, and an extended Edgar Road.
