A Highland farming family dating back to the Battle of Culloden yesterday claimed plans for the Nairn bypass would be “an absolute disaster” for them.
All possible route options would impinge on their land they said.
Now farmers and local residents who would be affected by the scheme – which forms part of plans to dual the A96 between Nairn and Inverness – are planning to fight options that would affect their homes and livelihoods.
John Bain Mackintosh, 70, of Blackpark Farm, Nairn, said: “Some of the options would split our land in half. If they did that and I couldn’t get my cows and calves across the road, it would be an absolute disaster.
“There doesn’t seem to be any sense in the options they’ve put forward.
“It seems someone has just drawn squiggly lines on a map with a pencil.”
He added that his family had been farming the land in that area since at least 1745, and possibly before that.
They currently have 240 acres across three farms – Blackpark, Meadowfield and Foynesfield – and Mr Mackenzie said they wanted to be able to hand them on to future generations.
Transport Scotland has drawn up nine possible routes for the Nairn bypass and there are eight possible options for a new road between the Smithton junction at Inverness and Gollanfield.
Mr Mackintosh said: “There isn’t one single route that doesn’t affect us. Eight out of the nine options for the Nairn bypass go through all three of our farms, the other one goes through two of them and one option goes within yards of my house.”
His son, Kyle Mackenzie, 39, who lives at Meadowfield Farm and is treasurer of Auldearn Community Council, said the council had asked Transport Scotland for more detailed plans for each of the routes and would be calling a public meeting to discuss them.
He said: “Nairn definitely needs a bypass.
“It has to go somewhere and farms are going to be affected.
“It’s just unfortunate that the routes they’ve picked affect my family more than most.”
And Debbie Mackintosh, 43, who farms 650 acres at Park Farm, Nairn, said: “We are local farmers, who have lived here all our lives.
“They are not just wrecking our homes, they are wrecking our businesses.
“We are speaking to professional bodies and we are going to have a solicitor and a planning expert. We’re all getting together to fight this.”
Transport Scotland said that upgrading the A96 between Inverness and Nairn and a bypass for Nairn, were included in the Strategic Transport Projects Review published in 2008.
Since then, further route option design work has taken place to take into account public feedback and Scottish Ministers’ commitment to dualling the A96.