An online petition urging Stirling Council to rethink the controversial Viewforth Link Road has now gathered more than 500 signatures - triggering a debate on the issue.
Lead petitioner Dr Niall Hamilton-Smith is asking Stirling Council to ‘Pause Viewforth Link Road for reconsideration and community consultation’.
The petition was set up two weeks ago and, as of Monday, 522 people had signed up supporting the bid - more than enough to require the council to hold a debate as part of a new rules.
Dean Lockhart MSP, meanwhile, is also backing the petition and believes it offers the council an opportunity to rethink their plans.
He said: “I would urge all candidates to come together and support calls for this controversial road to be stopped while a full review of the proposal takes place.
“Issues raised include serious environmental impact and whether the huge amount of public money involved could be better spent by increasing sustainable transport links and improving the road network across the wider council area.
“This is not a party political matter so I very much hope the other candidates will support their communities and this reasonable request for a review and proper consultation. This is about accountability and making sure scarce public money is used wisely.”
Tory Mr Lockhart will stand in the May Holyrood election to contest the Stirling constituency seat.
Both the SNP candidate Evelyn Tweed and Labour’s Chris Kane are currently serving councillors at Stirling Council and part of the current SNP/Labour administration that supports building the road.
Both supported the council budget, which included funding for the VLR.
Councillor Kane sits on the planning panel and recused himself from the vote to build the road. The application was then narrowly approved on the casting vote of chair Alasdair Macpherson.
The scheme will see 31 trees removed - 28 within the Conservation Area.
The new route will run through Viewforth between the St Ninians Road junction with Snowdon Place and the Linden Avenue roundabout near Waitrose and will create an inner city ring road which council officials claim would help reduce unnecessary traffic in the city centre and become a vital component of a wider transport strategy for Stirling.
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A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “This petition is currently open on our e-petition platform.
“As part of the work associated with the project, the council is preparing to open up an engagement process with the community on proposals for how to improve walking, wheeling and cycling easier at the Snowdon Place/St Ninians Road junction and the Linden Avenue roundabout.
“The draft consultation material was temporarily made live on the Engage Stirling site for a brief period before its official launch. Any comments we received have not been deleted and will be there when the pages are published in due course.”
The petition can be found at: https://engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/initiatives/viewforth-link-road-a-pause-for-reconsideration-community-consultation
