Cairn Gorm Funicular Railway (Hansard, 6 February 1998)

§ Mr. Alan Clark
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what opportunities for scrutiny of the final decision on the Cairn Gorm funicular railway project will be available to(a) the Edinburgh Parliament, (b) the Westminster Parliament and (c) the European Environment Commission. [25882]

§ Mr. Wilson
The final decision on whether to proceed with the Cairn Gorm funicular railway project rests with the Cairn Gorm Chairlift Company. That decision will in turn depend upon the decisions of those public sector organisations from which a financial contribution to the project has been sought, including Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the European Commission. There are well-established procedures to ensure the accountability of these organisations for the decisions they take.

§ Mr. Alan Clark
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the effect on the provision of EC funding to the Cairn Gorm funicular railway of its alleged incompatibility with community environmental guidelines. [25881]

§ Mr. Dewar
The local members of the Highlands and Islands Partnership were fully aware, when they expressed their recommendation for the award of European Structural Funds for the Cairn Gorm funicular railway, of the need for resolution of questions about the project's compatibility with EC environmental legislation being fully resolved by the European Commission. In accepting the Partnership's advice on the award, I have taken the view that resolution of those questions can be achieved 829W within a timescale compatible with that for drawing upon EC funds under the current Objective 1 programme for the Highlands and Islands.

§ Mr. Alan Clark
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the projected Cairn Gorm funicular railway is to be regarded as a reserved category under the Scotland Bill. [25880]

§ Mr. McLeish
The development and operation of the Cairn Gorm funicular railway by private promoters touches on several aspects of central Government functions. In practice, most of those aspects are likely to be dealt with prior to the provisions of the Scotland Bill coming into effect. However, the aspects associated with the environmental impact, the planning considerations and the public sector financial support for the project would in general be devolved responsibilities under the proposals in the Scotland Bill; but health and safety at work aspects would be reserved matters.