A conservation charity has lodged an objection to the plans for the future East Airdrie link road, saying the development will result in the loss of two areas of officially-designated ancient forests.
The Woodland Trust “strongly opposes” the preferred route for its impacts on historic locations near Chapelhall and Moffat Mills which date back as far as the 18th century.
Its campaigners are calling for the route to be reconfigured to preserve the woodlands and for buffer zones to be put in place to help preserve them – and say that “the scheme should not be taken forward in its present form” if those requirements cannot be met.
The Trust has submitted an objection to the second-stage consultation, which closed last week, citing concerns about loss of the green spaces just north of the Lancaster Road roundabout which would be the route’s southern junction with the A73, and a “long-established plantation” further north along Roughrigg Road, south-east of the Inver House distillery site.
Writing to North Lanarkshire Council, the group noted that ancient woodland accounts for only one to two per cent of land in Scotland and stated: “The proposed preferred route option of the East Airdrie link road will result in the direct loss of two [such] areas.
“Development in ancient woodland can lead to long-term changes in ground flora and sensitive fauna; we also consider that the proposed scheme is likely to have considerable impacts in the form of dust, noise and light pollution, run-off containing pollutants, as well as potential damage to tree roots.”
Set to open in 2027, the single-carriageway link road would run from Chapelhall to Riggend, providing a direct route for through traffic away from the congested A73 through Airdrie as well as access to the Monklands Hospital site.
Work on developing the route has been in progress for three years, with the intial shortlist of options being narrowed down to the now-preferred 10km route after assessments of its economic, transport and environmental benefits.
However, the Woodland Trust say the planned route and resultant loss of woodland is contrary to various environmental and planning policies, and highlights further impacts including biodiversity, hydrology changes to the area and the impact of losing ancient woodland on carbon emissions.
The charity’s objection letter states: “We believe that ancient woodland is among the most precious and biodiverse habitats in the UK and is a finite resource which should be protected [and] where direct loss to ancient and long-established woodland would occur, the scheme should be redesigned to avoid these losses.
“A buffer zone of at least 50 metres to all areas of ancient woodland should be incorporated into the plans to prevent long-term degradation of the ancient habitat – if this is not achievable, then the scheme should not be taken forward in its present form.
“The buffer should be kept free of development unless the proposed works would aid in further alleviating impacts on the ancient woodland, in the form of barriers, fencing, bunds or embankments; we recommend that [it] is planted prior to construction.”
Council officials say that the outcome of the latest three-month consultation will help to develop the next stage of the project planning, due to get underway this summer.
A spokesperson for the local authority told Lanarkshire Live: “Responses will inform stage three of the development of the link road, which will include design, preparation of a planning application and an outline business case to Glasgow City Region for funding.
“Once the consultation comments have been reviewed, where relevant, direct responses will be made to those who made submissions.
“The next step is to appoint consultants to take forward stage three; there will be further opportunities to consult and engage with residents, landowners and the wider public during this stage as detailed plans for link road are developed.”
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