The decision to scrap an Elgin bypass almost a decade ago could come back to haunt Moray Council as plans for 100 new homes in the town move forward, it has been warned.
The issue of the controversial Western Link Road was raised during discussions on an affordable housing development in the town’s busiest shopping area.
Members of the planning committee would ultimately give the go-ahead for 106 homes at Bilbohall to the south west of Elgin on Tuesday.
However, that decision came with some reservations.
Is this a ‘massive mistake’?
Construction traffic will be forbidden from using a single track bridge over the railway line to the north of the development.
And vehicles will not be able to travel via the level crossing at The Wards to get to and from the site.
That means traffic will have to come in from the east – along Edgar Road – and leave that way too.
Councillor John Divers told the meeting he had recently witnessed near car crashes at the staggered junction with The Wards and Glen Moray Drive.
The Labour member for Elgin South said: “We lost the benefits of road junction improvements when we decided not to take forward the Western Link Road.
“But to say this is a car crash waiting to happen is an understatement.
“Improvements have been promised at this junction for years and they’re still not here.”
Edgar Road is ‘crazy’ years on from Western Link Road axe
And Mr Divers added he was “surprised” there was nothing in the application to address the problems.
Councillor John Cowe called the decision to scrap the Western Link Road a “massive mistake” impacting road safety and the economy.
The independent member for Heldon and Laich said it had caused “huge congestion” on Edgar Road.
And SNP councillor for Elgin North Jérémie Fernandes called it a “crazy road”.
There are two retail parks on Edgar Road with shops including Next, Mountain Warehouse, Boots, B&M, Matalan, Pets at Home and Food Warehouse.
On top of that, there are also two car salerooms, an Asda supermarket and a B&Q depot.
As if that wasn’t enough, Aldi is planning a move there from its current town centre location.
Warning new homes could be ‘an accident waiting to happen’
The bypass would have connected the south of the town to the north.
A new bridge over the railway line at the end of Wittet Drive would have led onto an extended Edgar Road.
But it was removed from the capital plan in 2016 after the majority of councillors voted against it.
The affordable housing development is part of the Bilbohall Masterplan for a total of 194 homes in the area – stretching from Elgin High School to the railway line.
The development will comprise a mixture of one, two, three, four and five-bedroomed properties.
And there will be two blocks of three storey two bedroom flats.
So why were the housing plans approved?
Moray Council is the applicant for the development. And it is hoped it will go some way to meet housing needs in the town.
However as of March this year there were 3,351 applications to the local authority’s housing waiting list.
The meeting heard there were no objections to the application.
Plans for affordable housing at Bilbohall stretch back to 2007 when Moray Council bought the site from NHS Grampian for £2 million.
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