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ROADS (SCOTLAND) ACT 1984; ACQUISITION OF LAND (AUTHORISATION PROCEDURE)(SCOTLAND) ACT 1947
M74 SPECIAL ROAD (FULLARTON ROAD TO WEST OF KINGSTON BRIDGE) ORDERS
REPORT OF PUBLIC LOCAL INQUIRY INTO OBJECTIONS
VOLUME 1 : MAIN REPORT

File Ref: 2NEA/13/2, 2NEA/13/3, 2NEA/13/10 & 2NEA/13/33

Scottish Ministers

ROADS (SCOTLAND) ACT 1984: ACQUISITION OF LAND (AUTHORISATION PROCEDURE)(SCOTLAND) ACT 1947: THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 1999

In accordance with our Minute of Appointment dated 4 August 2003, we held a public local inquiry into objections lodged and not withdrawn to the above Orders and related Environmental Statement. In the interests of brevity, the special road scheme to which the Orders relate is referred to as the "M74C" throughout our report.

Inquiry arrangements

A pre-inquiry meeting was held in Glasgow on 20 August 2003. A copy of the minute of that meeting is provided as appendix 1 to this report. All appendices are contained in volume 2 of the report.

The inquiry took place at 3 locations, namely the Parish Hall, West George Street, Glasgow; the Millennium Hotel, West George Street, Glasgow; and the Reuther Hall, Rutherglen. The details of these sittings and the objections heard are set out in the inquiry programme at appendix 5 in volume 2.

Prior to the inquiry, we carried out an unaccompanied site inspection of the entire route of the proposed motorway extension and we have made further unaccompanied site visits to specific locations as necessary, both during and after the inquiry. Accompanied site visits to inspect individual properties affected by the proposed compulsory purchase order were made on 21 January 2004, 16 February 2004, and 21 April 2004, and there was an accompanied inspection of most of the route of the motorway by bus and on foot on 17 February 2004.

We wish to record our appreciation for the very helpful cooperation that we have received from all parties. This has greatly helped the organisation and efficient programming of the inquiry, and the consideration of the evidence. We also wish to thank the Programme Officer for her care and efficiency in carrying out her responsibilities.

Legal submissions

At the start of the inquiry on 1 December 2003, there was a motion from JAM74/FOE for an indefinite adjournment of the inquiry. This motion was rejected. The summaries of the submissions for and against the motion, and our ruling thereon are set out in appendix 6. Legal submissions of a similar nature were also made at the inquiry on 26 January 2004 on behalf of Albion Chemicals Limited and these are also set out in appendix 6. In addition, at the inquiry on 1 March 2004, there was a motion on behalf of the MRC Pension Trust for an award of expenses against the TRA. The submissions in support of and against that motion, and the recommendation thereon are set out in appendix 7.

Number and scope of objections

In common with general practice, objectors to the compulsory purchase order are sometimes referred to as statutory objectors, while objectors to the other orders are sometimes referred to as non statutory objectors. However all objections timeously lodged have a proper statutory basis.

There were objections to the orders by or on behalf of 42 statutory objectors. Of these statutory objectors, 40 objected to the proposed compulsory purchase of their property, and 13 to the road authorisation orders. A number of these objections were subsequently withdrawn, mainly as a result of successful negotiations between the acquiring authority and the property owners/occupiers, so that by the close of the public local inquiry, there were objections from 31 statutory objectors that had not been withdrawn. By the time of the completion of this report (6 July 2004), a further 6 statutory objections had been withdrawn, leaving 25 maintained objections to the compulsory purchase order.

The maintained statutory objections affect 41 separate plots of land (sometimes contiguous) ranging in size from a few square metres to two plots belonging to Corus plc extending to a total of about 8ha. Of these statutory objectors, 3 presented oral evidence at the public inquiry, with 22 resting on their written submissions. The table at the beginning of chapter 9 lists the 25 statutory objectors who have not withdrawn their objections, while the inquiry appearances list (appendix 5) identifies the 3 statutory objectors who took part.

In addition, there were some 340 (non statutory) objections from individuals and organisations opposed to the proposed motorway. These are listed at appendix 3 in volume 2. Among them are the following organisations that object to the proposed motorway :

5 Members of the Scottish Parliament object to the proposals.

The vast majority of the objections from individuals express concern about similar issues, some 280 of them being in identical or nearly identical terms. The issues of most widespread concern to objectors are :

• Inequitable/undesirable use of public funds (mentioned by 49 objectors)
• Environmental concerns (mentioned by 49 objectors)
• Congestion/traffic concerns (mentioned by 42 objectors)
• Concerns about economic benefits (mentioned by 36 objectors)
• Concerns about contaminated land (mentioned by 18 objectors)
• Community severance effects (mentioned by 17 objectors)
• Lack of studies of transport alternatives (mentioned by 10 objectors)
• Concerns about impacts on health (mentioned by 9 objectors)
• Concerns about visual impact (mentioned by 5 objectors)
• Cycling and pedestrian issues (mentioned by 4 objectors)
• Concerns about lack of public consultation (mentioned by 3 objectors)

Appearances at the inquiry are listed at appendix 5. Friends of the Earth Scotland and JAM74 combined to make a joint presentation, and also represented a further 40 or so individual objectors. This joint work was of considerable benefit to all concerned (including the Reporters) as it resulted in more efficient use of inquiry time and avoided the potential duplication of effort by witnesses. The Scottish Association for Public Transport also made an extensive contribution to the inquiry. A further 5 organisations and individuals presented evidence at the public inquiry.

Support for the proposal

Letters of support for the proposal have been lodged by :

CBI Scotland Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce

The structure of the evidence and this report

The inquiry proceedings were split into 2 phases, the first dealing with general objections to the principle of the Orders, and the second with site/location specific objections. The structure of this report generally reflects that split. The first part of the report covers the general description and policy background. Part 2 of the report covers the principle and broad effects of the proposed road, including the localised environmental impacts. The chapter headings in part 2 reflect the main issues that were covered during the first part of the inquiry, and in the written representations. Part 3 of the report covers the statutory objections to the proposed compulsory purchase order by those with an interest in affected properties. Part 4 of the report sets out the findings of fact resulting from the evidence, and the conclusions and recommendation.

Appendix 4 in volume 2 lists the documents produced by the parties who appeared. The following page contains a list of abbreviations that have been used in the report.

At the conclusion of the inquiry, a complete set of the productions lodged at the inquiry was forwarded to your office and this report should be read in conjunction with the productions.

A short summary of the main findings of the report follows this preamble.

Additional points

Donald Watt has made a major contribution to all stages of the public inquiry and the writing of the report. However, for medical reasons, he has not been able to contribute to the final stages of the work. For that reason, the report has been completed by Richard Hickman, and he is the sole signatory of the report.

During the preparation of the report, it was noted that the number of HGV trips required during the construction work may have been underestimated in the Environmental Statement (see paragraph 5.94 below). However this report and its conclusions have been based solely on the evidence as presented to the inquiry, and no account has been taken of the possibility that the number of HGV trips occurring during the construction phase may be higher than those forecast in the environmental assessment. If Scottish Ministers are minded to authorise the road, it would be necessary to clarify the position on the probable numbers of HGV construction trips, and to consider the implications of any increase in the forecasts.

List of Abbreviations

Parties and Organisations

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