§ Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) who he has consulted on the subject of a Creagan road bridge; and what plans he has to further consultations;. [8544]
(2) what estimate he has made of the cost of the construction of the Creagan bridge;. [8585]
(3) what is the timetable for the construction of the Creagan bridge; and if he will make a statement;. [8542]
(4) what public funds will be made available for the construction of the Creagan bridge. [8543]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonWe have consulted extensively on plans for the Creagan bridge with statutory consultees in line with schedule 1 to the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984. All directly affected landowners were visited by representatives from the National Roads Directorate. Plans were available for inspection locally at the time the draft road orders were published. On 1 May 1992, a compulsory purchase order was published under the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Scotland Act 1947 and on 5 February 1993 main line and side road orders were confirmed. Arrangements are currently being made for a public local inquiry to consider one unwithdrawn objection from a local landowner to the compulsory purchase order.
The cost of the scheme is currently estimated at £6.22 million. Given a satisfactory outcome at the public inquiry, and the continuing availability of resources, it is anticipated that construction will start in 1997–98, as a publicly funded project.