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Stromeferry Bypass

Highlands & Islands MSP Rhoda Grant seeks face to face meeting with Cabinet Secretary for Transport over Stromeferry bypass issue

 

Rhoda Grant MSP is seeking a meeting at the Scottish Parliament with the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Michael Matheson, to discuss the short, medium and long term issues surrounding the Stromeferry bypass.

 

Rhoda said ” We are at an impasse now. Highland Council say they cannot afford to fund a long term safety solution to address all the problems associated with the Stromeferry bypass. They have only enough funding set aside to carry out essential remedial work to the rock face each year. Highland Council advise that as a result of the millions they spend on this remedial work each year that other essential services such as Education are missing out. The Government say they cannot help as this is an issue for the Local Authority to deal with as the route (The A890) is not a trunk route. So what we have here is a situation that has gone on and on year after year, a situation that gets kicked into the long grass and no one steps up to the plate to come up with a solution. All the time the route is being used by the public, including school children travelling the route twice per day and no one knows the true extent of the risks other than that they do exist.

 

I have written to the Government more than once on this issue, I have tabled Parliamentary Questions, I have tried to get the Government to take over responsibility for the road given it is the main route to the Uists and South West Ross, I have had dialogue with Highland Council and all that happens is the issue gets pushed back and fore and no solution is found.

 

Rhoda continued ” I am determined that this matter is addressed now before anyone is injured or killed on this road.  Given that Highland Council covers the largest geographical area of any local authority in the UK, with some 26,484 square km covering a third of Scotland, there are nearly 7,000km of regional roads, I am seeking to meet with the Cabinet Secretary for Transport to push hard for a solution to be found, whether that be the Government body, Transport Scotland, adopting this route as a trunk route, or the Government helping out Highland Council with extra funding.

 

 

 

 

 

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Cairngorm Mountain Ltd in administration

Re this media release put out by Highlands and Islands Enterprise today:
 
“The community has raised serious concerns about the running of the resort under Cairngorm Mountain Ltd and Natural Retreats over a long period of time and I am sure they will feel tremendously let down that it has come to this.
It’s now important that HIE is allowed to step in to give stability and to ensure that the remaining staff are paid at this difficult time of year with Christmas just around the corner.
The Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust and the Save the Ciste campaign have both been pushing for community ownership of Cairngorm to allow for new developments and expansion.
The company’s collapse should open the door for a very serious discussion about how local people can take this forward.
The unknown quantity is the future of the funicular and the cost of repairs and I await that with interest. It’s important for the local economy that the resort can still be open for business as soon as possible.”
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Marion Wallace Dunlop – Inverness born Suffragette recognised

Motion Number: S5M-14757
Lodged By: Rhoda Grant
Date Lodged: 14/11/2018

Title: Marion Wallace Dunlop

Motion Text:

That the Parliament acknowledges the role played by Inverness-born, Marion Wallace Dunlop, a key member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), and the first suffragette hunger striker; notes that Marion was arrested in 1909 after using a rubber stamp to print the words “Votes for Women” on a wall of St Stephen’s Hall in the House of Commons; understands that she was jailed at Holloway Prison for her actions and went on hunger strike for the suffragette cause; acknowledges her strenuous work in securing women the vote, and is pleased to note that she is being remembered this week as part of Parliament Week at Westminster.

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Mary Ramsay launches petition – please sign

You may remember Inverness constituent Mary Ramsay who has Essential Tremor and is campaigning to get ground breaking technology brought to Scotland – ideally to Ninewells Hospital.
The Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) technology uses MRI imaging to guide high powered, focused ultrasound to a very small point to alleviate conditions with tremor.
Molecules are vibrated extremely quickly, which creates intense local heat. The equipment allows clinicians to target a very specific focal point – with very little heating produced in front of and behind that point, so only the targeted tissue is affected.
A surgery team at Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust, London, already uses the equipment and has performed this procedure on 16 patients successfully reducing their tremors in every case.
The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) has assessed this technology. It has been approved for the treatment of essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease in the USA and in Europe.
Mary has now launched a petition (see link below) and is currently lodging another petition with the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee.
Please sign this to help bring this to Scotland.

Photo shows Rhoda with Mary

https://tinyurl.com/yaugwzhx

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Statement about DeeAnn Fitzpatrick from Rhoda Grant MSP

“I am absolutely appalled by the treatment of DeeAnn Fitzpatrick over the review into her case,” said Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant.
“There are no two ways about it, it is an absolute cover up and no member of staff should be treated in this way.
“At the very least the First Minister should have invited DeeAnn to a private meeting to discuss the review and the conclusions, but what happened was that a public statement was issued before consulting with DeeAnn.
“I’ve written to the First Minister on a number of occasions asking for a meeting with her and with DeeAnn and I have requested that once again.
“The behaviour that DeeAnn experienced should be called out and not buried and the chapter closed without her seeing the full report.
“DeeAnn’s treatment by the Scottish Government is just abysmal.”