Land procured for the dualling of the A9: EIR release

Information requested

1. How many acres of land has been procured for the dualling of the A9 (by the date of this request)?

2. What is the total cost of this land procurement?

3. How much more land is required through procurement for the completion of the A9 dualling?

4. When does the Government estimate this complete dualling of the A9 will be finished?

Response

As all of the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Please find below response to requests for information you made in your email.

1. How many acres of land has been procured for the dualling of the A9 (by the date of this request)?

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. The areas of land compulsorily acquired for the A9 Dualling are available on the Transport Scotland website.

The Scottish Ministers have taken take title to land (through a General Vesting Declaration procedure) included in the Compulsory Purchase Orders for seven schemes that make up the Dualling programme, including Luncarty to Pass of Birnam and Kincraig to Dalraddy where construction is complete. Details of the land taken can be found within the Compulsory Purchase Orders for each section which is available from the Transport Scotland website at:

Luncarty to Pass of Birnam: a9-dualling-luncarty-to-pass-of-birnam-made-orders-final-cpo-and-schedule-30-november-2016.pdf (transport.gov.scot)

Tay Crossing to Balinluig: https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/50498/the-a9-trunk-road-tay-crossing-to-ballinluig-made-compulsory-purchase-order-2021-schedule-signed.pdf

Pitlochry to Killiecrankie: https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/50508/the-a9-trunk-road-pitlochry-to-killiecrankie-made-compulsory-purchase-order-2021-schedule-signed.pdf

Glen Garry to Dalwhinnie: the-a9-trunk-road-glen-garry-to-dalwhinnie-compulsory-purchase-order-2021-schedule.pdf (transport.gov.scot)

Dalwhinnie to Crubenmore: https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/50137/the-a9-trunk-road-dalwhinnie-to-crubenmore-compulsory-purchase-order-2021-schedule.pdf

Kincraig to Dalraddy: a9-dualling-kincraig-to-dalraddy-made-orders-final-cpo-cpo-and-schedule-signed-17-september-2014.pdf (transport.gov.scot)

Tomatin to Moy: https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/49153/the-a9-trunk-road-tomatin-to-moy-compulsory-purchase-order-2021-schedule.pdf

In addition to the above, we have acquired 567,794m2, (140.3 acres) of land by agreement for the dualling of the A9.

2. What is the total cost of this land procurement?

Following the acquisition of land as noted in response 1, Scottish Ministers engage the Valuation Office Agency to negotiate land compensation claims on their behalf in accordance with the compensation code.

To date £10,038,312.19 has been spent on land acquired for the A9 Dualling. This figure includes VAT where applicable and represents the total value of land acquisition compensation claims settled fully and partially to the date of your request.

The timings of paying remaining land acquisition compensation costs is dependant on reaching agreement with respective landowners.

3. How much more land is required through procurement for the completion of the A9 dualling?

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. The areas of land required for the A9 Dualling are available on the Transport Scotland website.

In addition to the above mentioned schemes three further schemes (Killiecrankie to Glen Garry, Crubenmore to Kincraig and Dalraddy to Sloch) are progressing with completion of the statutory process and expect to have Made Orders published by the end of this year in line with the December 2023 statement to Scottish Parliament by the former Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition (Meeting of the Parliament: 20/12/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website). Draft Compulsory Purchase orders illustrating the potential land to be acquired for these schemes, including plot areas, can be found here:

Killiecrankie to Glen Garry: https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/40643/the-a9-trunk-road-killiecrankie-to-glen-garry-compulsory-purchase-order-201-schedule.pdf

Crubenmore to Kincraig: https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/43091/the-a9-and-a86-trunk-roads-crubenmore-to-kincraig-compulsory-purchase-order-201-schedule.pdf

Dalraddy to Slochd: https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/43510/the-a9-and-a95-trunk-roads-dalraddy-to-slochd-compulsory-purchase-order-201-schedule-28-august-2018.pdf

The only scheme still to go through the statutory process is Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing where a preferred route was announced at the end of last year following an innovative Co-creative Process. At this stage we are unable to provide the area of land to be taken as the final scheme design is ongoing. We expect to publish draft orders by Spring 2025 for this scheme.

4. When does the government estimate this complete dualling of the A9 will be finished?

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. This information has been published on our project website, and to assist I have provided the below link.

On 20 December 2023, the then Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition announced the plan for completion of A9 Dualling. This plan anticipates completion of the entire A9 Dualling programme between Perth and Inverness by the end of 2035.

It may be helpful to note that our Spring 2024 A9 Dualling Newsletter is available from the Transport Scotland website. You can also register for updates to receive a copy of our quarterly newsletter by email if preferred.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.