Maybole bypass snub

Dec 19 2008

MAYBOLE will not get a bypass any time soon.

The town has been snubbed in a government shake-up of Scotland’s roads.

A multi-million pound project, revealed last week, ignores the need for a bypass in Maybole.

And the Strategic Transport Review has left the community reeling with anger and disappointment.

Although upgrades to the A77 are highlighted in the report, there is no specific mention of a bypass for Maybole.

It had been hoped that the highly anticipated report would mark the end of decades of campaigning.

Peter Mason, chair of the bypass committee is raging.

He said: “This is a disgrace. Do they want our blood on the ground before they do something?

“We were very hopeful that this report would be favourable for a Maybole bypass. We are extremely disappointed that after all the promises we’ve had from past administrations, as well as the current one, we have been snubbed again.

“I feel sorry for all the parents with young families in Maybole. They have to use that High Street everyday to get to school and to shops but everytime they do so they are risking their children’s lives.”

Peter’s fellow campaigner David Kiltie added: “A bypass for Maybole was the only bypass in Scotland approved by all parties including the Greens. All local politicians were in favour, the official report said the town needed a bypass, now it is not even mentioned in the new report which is the blueprint for the next 20 years.

“When I heard the news I thought people were joking or that there had to have been a bureaucratic error.”

MSP Cathy Jamieson has campaigned tirelessly for the bypass.

This week she blasted: “It seems Maybole residents and the bypass project have been abandoned.

“All the groundwork had been done and the full technical report was there – the Government has let Maybole down.”

SNP MSP Adam Ingram says the government is doing the best it can with its budget.

He said: “The important thing is it hasn’t been removed from the agenda.

“I am pleased to see that one of the 29 major packages of work identified as investment priorities will include upgrading the A77 South of Ayr.

“Nobody is saying it’s going to happen in the next couple of years, but then it never was.

“There will be major cutbacks in the Scottish Government budget over the next few years. Everybody is aware of the financial climate at the moment.

“We are further forward in getting a Maybole bypass, but maybe not as far forward as some people would like.”

The council’s leader Hugh Hunter said he is not giving up hope: “I am incredibly disappointed that Maybole is not specifically mentioned. However, it does mention upgrades to the A77, my position is that there is nothing more pressing than a bypass in Maybole. I will be pursuing this to make sure it’s a priority.

“I am not giving up hope, Maybole absolutely deserves a bypass every bit as much, or more so, than those towns who are mentioned.”