The proposed location of a slip road off the A9 between Auchterarder and Aberuthven has been declared “stupid”.
Locals have been calling for a flyover for years and say the proposal on the table is not the answer with one councillor fearing it could lead to fatalities.
A public pre-consultation event was held this week about the Shinafoot Junction project but there are claims it was “very badly publicised”.
At a council meeting this week, one ward councillor claimed no one locally supported the proposal.
Concerns were raised as a pre-application notice was put before Perth and Kinross Council’s planning and development management committee on June 29.
An online public consultation then took place on June 30.
The proposal of application notice was submitted on behalf of Muir Homes and Stewart Milne for the formation of a slip road off the A9 connecting to the Shinafoot Road.
Their agent Andrew McCafferty told the PA the improvement works at Shinafoot were part of a legal requirement imposed by Perth and Kinross Council as part of their housebuilding in the area.
The B8062 runs under the A9 and connects to the A824 between Auchterarder and Aberuthven. The plans being consulted upon would see the creation of an off-slip from the A9 connecting to the Shinafoot Road (B8062).
At Tuesday’s meeting, Conservative Strathallan councillor Crawford Reid raised concerns about hauliers and buses using this junction.
Dr Reid said it was “not appropriate” and would “be yet another sub-standard junction off the A9” and “could lead to fatalities”.
He added: “No one is in support of this junction.”
Fellow Strathallan councillor Tom Gray shared these concerns and said there was “strong opposition” locally.
He suggested a roundabout be added to the proposed junction connecting the slip road with the B8062 to slow traffic down.
Liberal Democrat councillor Willie Wilson said: “This is a complete nonsense. It’s a stupid place.”
After the meeting the PA spoke to planning consultant Mr McCafferty.
He said there was some confusion about separate proposals that were not part of theirs coming forward for access on and off the A9 to/from Auchterarder and Aberuthven and this was just “part of the solution”.
A separate safety trial is currently under way by BEAR Scotland for the A9/A824 Auchterarder junction with a temporary no right-turn being trialled at the central reservation and southerly junction of the dual carriageway.
Ally Kay, chairman of Auchterarder and District Community Council, said locals would like to see a flyover placed at the Auchterarder junction.
He said the public had not been properly consulted on the proposals for the Shinafoot junction.
He said the original proposal was an off-slip from Perth and an on-slip to Stirling but now just an off-slip from the A9 to the B8062 was being proposed.
He told the PA : “It’s safer coming off the A9 to have a slip road but it’s not the ideal situation at all.
“Right from day one Auchterader and Aberuthven residents have not been happy about it at all.
“They have not consulted with the public properly.
“I was told about the pre-application notice but there was no mention of any public consultation.”
Mr Kay said he found out about the public consultation by chance and alerted others.
He said: “I mentioned it to ward councillors at a meeting and they did not know about it.”
The virtual public consultation took place on June 30.
Planning consultant Mr McCafferty told the PA they had 17 individual responses via the live chat. Feedback and responses can continue to be submitted for two weeks until Friday, July 16.
The public consultation can be viewed at: shinafootjunction.co.uk and feedback can be submitted there or to info@andrewmccaffertyassociates.com
