Published: Thursday, 4th February, 2010 9:19am

'Nimbyism' won't block new Forth bridge

by Gary Fitzpatrick

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'NIMBYISM' will not be allowed to delay the new Forth road bridge, vital to Fife and Scotland's transport infrastructure and economic future.

That was the message in West Fife as the extent of opposition to the plans from south of the Forth emerged this week.

The project faces formal objections from a disparate band of environmentalists, residents' associations, landed gentry, businesses, politicians and local authorities.

Most of the opposition is coming from the Lothians but there were reassurances this week from Holyrood and Fife that the project remains firmly on course.

The list of 88 objectors includes Network Rail, City of Edinburgh Council, West Lothian Council, Edinburgh Airport, farmers and country estates but their reasons will not be made public until next week.

Lord Rosebery, the Hopetoun Estate and the Dundas Castle Estate are also among the objectors.

Many of the capital-based critics of the new bridge were also those who campaigned for £4 bridge tolls and the Edinburgh congestion charge - both emphatically rejected by the public.

West Fife Villages SNP councillor Bill Walker said, "There's certainly an element of 'nimbyism' involved.

"People are entitled to raise concerns but you tend only to hear the vocal minority and not the vast majority who want this important project to go ahead as planned.

"Fife Council is fully backing the new bridge and I have no concerns that it will be delayed.

"I've spoken recently with transport minister Stewart Stevenson and we've also had bullish comments this week from project director John Howison."

Mr Howison gave assurances to MSPs on Tuesday that he was confident that the bridge would be built on time and to budget.

There has been little opposition on the Fife side where the new crossing is generally seen as a crucial strategic link given the uncertain future of the current bridge.

However, there are objections from Network Rail and Deep Sea World over the compulsory acquistion of land around North Queensferry.

Scarborough Muir, owners of the Rosyth Waterfront site, and Rosyth Dockyard operators Babcock International are also on the list of objectors.

Others include the wildlife groups Scottish Badgers and RSPB Scotland, two Lothians MSPs and several community councils from south of the river.

Fife transport chair Tony Martin said he was "fairly relaxed" that the project would not be held up by the objections.

"Many of them will be from people living on the other side of the bridge and be to do with the effect it will have on their homes," added the Dunfermline councillor.

"However, we've already had a long process of deciding whether it should be a bridge and where that bridge should go.

"I also think that when you're building a bridge, people will have to accept that work cannot just finish at five on the dot.

"If they're in the middle of putting something up then they have to finish off the work but contractors will also have to act within the spirit of the agreements put in place."

Deep Sea World has lodged an objection over the loss of their overflow car park just outside North Queensferry.

As the Press reported last year, they warn that without an alternative being found there would be traffic chaos in the village during the attraction's busy days.

The car park is owned by the council but leased to the aquarium.

Gerry O'Donnell, park director for Deep Sea World, said, "We're very much in favour of the crossing project.

"It will be fantastic for Fife and for us as a business to bring more people here.

"Our concern is with the loss of our overflow car park, which is used during the school holidays.

"We need the overflow car park to prevent gridlock occurring in the village on busy days.

"That can happen any time the weather's a bit murky during the holidays.

"I'm very confident a solution can be found and we've had tremendous support from our MSP, Helen Eadie.

"We just want to make sure that as a national attraction we don't sleepwalk into a situation where have a problem in spring 2011."

How the existing bridge should be used in the years to come is now the subject of a public consultation.

Proposals to restrict it to public transport are being investigated by the parliament's transport, infrastructure and climate change committee.

Councillor Martin believes that utilising the bridge as a public transport corridor could offer huge benefits to the Kingdom.

"With park and ride sites at Halbeath and Pitreavie the existing bridge can provide a great public transport opportunity," he explained.

"The success of the Ferrytoll park and ride scheme at Inverkeithing shows that people who previously used their cars to go into Edinburgh will switch to public transport.

"What we need to do is keep improving on that and in particular provide better services to the west of Edinburgh.

"The present bridge is an iconic structure and if we were not going to keep it open it would cost a huge amount to take it down.

"If we are serious about meeting our carbon reduction targets, we have to take on these public transport projects."