Nairn bypass - still disbelief but very real for some now

Today the bypass is back on the agenda as people pass the time of the day in Nairn, this observer is still hearing the mantra that has been all too familiar over recent years: “It’ll never happen in my lifetime” or words to that effect. Despite a convincing looking exhibition and a room full of Transport Scotland official there are some that remained to be convinced that a Nairn bypass will become a reality. 

It is of course all very real for anyone who lives close to the myriad of potential lines that are now on the map around the approaches and the south of Nairn. They won’t know just where the bypass will go until the consultation is done and dusted and then after that there may be a public inquiry if there are issues that cannot be resolved. Whether a bypass ever happens or not, to a certain extent they now live in the shadow of the lines on the map. It is not an ideal situation to be in but a bypass was always going to upset some. Now given the geographical spread of the many potential routes it will be causing anxiety for quite a few people if the numbers to be seen taking away spare copies of the consultation form from the Golf view yesterday were to be taken as a barometer. 

BBC Alba did quite an extensive report on the Nairn bypass issue last night. Colin was quoted: 

“The reality is that this is something about, you know, decreasing transport times from Inverness to Aberdeen, opening the area up for economic development and for Nairn and its town centre, turning it back into a fantastic tourist destination for people.”

That’s the vision of a happy ending for Nairn and then there was the flip side as a country dweller very much worried about how a bypass could impact on her life was interviewed: 

“We’ve had no consultation about this at all. The first we heard about it was three weeks ago when somebody came to knock on the door to say could we have a look. They were going to look at different routes for the A96. I never thought for one second they would come three miles up into the country from the proposed route that they’ve had for the last fifteen years.”