MINISTERS unveiled their vision for Scotland in 2030 yesterday – a country ringed by massive container ship ports, with two top-class airports and powerful electricity lines to transport renewable energy to the Central Belt.
John Swinney, the finance secretary, said the Scottish Government had agreed in principle to back nine infrastructure projects which, he claimed, would grow the economy, improve the environment and make life better for Scots.
The projects are: a
new Forth crossing; expansion of Edinburgh and Glasgow airports; a new container terminal at Rosyth; expanding the container terminal at Grangemouth; turning Scapa Flow into a global ship transfer hub; new facilities for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow; rebuilding Glasgow's drainage system and building new electricity capacity to service the renewables industry.
Mr Swinney's announcement means each of the projects has effectively been given outline planning approval by the Scottish Government, short-cutting what is normally is long and complicated process.
All of the projects will still have to go through the local planning system, but by identifying them so early, the Scottish Government is attempting to accelerate the process.
Launching the National Planning Framework, Mr Swinney said he wanted to "paint a picture" of what he hoped Scotland would be like in 2030.
He added: "These (projects] will help strengthen our links with the rest of the world and make Scotland a more attractive place to do business."
Mr Swinney said the list was not limited by finance and might be added to or reduced, either through the public consultation process or by the Scottish Parliament.
The expansion of Glasgow and Edinburgh airports will be funded entirely by the private sector so these projects are not dependent on Scottish Government spending.
Other projects, such as the new Forth crossing, will be paid for by the taxpayer and such projects will influence what else the Scottish Government wants to spend money on.
Mr Swinney stressed that other infrastructure projects would continue to receive Scottish Government backing and yesterday's list represented only the projects that ministers felt were of national importance.
For the first time, ministers pledged to electrify all of Scotland's major rail routes in the long term. They said running trains using "renewable and clean" power sources would significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transport.
Electric trains would replace diesels on lines which could include those between Edinburgh/ Glasgow and Aberdeen and Inverness.
Mr Swinney also repeated the Scottish Government's commitment to dualling the A9 from Perth to Inverness, but again without a timetable.
Stewart Stevenson, the transport minister, said: "The electrification of the entire strategic rail network based on renewable and clean power generation would significantly reduce (output] from transport."
Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: "These are vital projects, but we believe the framework could have placed a higher priority on ensuring that Scotland's trunk-road network is improved alongside our other transport infrastructure over the next 25 years."
Jim Mackinnon, the government's chief planner, said that the proposed framework had no bearing on speculative private applications, such as Donald Trump's controversial plans for a golf resort in Aberdeenshire.
The full article contains 524 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
