The Scottish public will be consulted on a name for the new Forth bridge, weeks after Courier readers voted in their hundreds for their favourites.
Transport minister Keith Brown confirmed he has asked officials on the Forth Replacement Crossing project to begin the process for choosing a name for the new bridge.
Last month, ideas for titles for what is sure to be an iconic structure across the Forth flooded in to The Courier after we asked for suggestions.
Following an online poll, 28% of voters opted for the Kingdom Bridge, just ahead of the Queensferry Bridge which attracted 24% of votes.
But now the real work starts on naming the new crossing, which will sit alongside the Forth Bridge only just nominated to bid for a place on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites and the 47-year-old Forth Road Bridge.
The news comes in the week Transport Scotland officials are also preparing to submit a planning application for the Forth Replacement Crossing contact and education centre, which will become a focal point in the search for a name.
Built on land next to the Forth Road Bridge administration office at South Queensferry, the £3.8 million centre will act as both a community engagement hub during construction and a permanent national traffic control centre.
Mr Brown outlined how the contact and education centre could play a part in allowing the public a key role in choosing the name.
“This government recognises that finding an appropriate name for the new bridge is a matter of considerable interest both locally and nationally.
“While we should remember that the Forth Replacement Crossing is the name of the project to deliver the bridge, not the name of the completed bridge, I would like to have an open and transparent process for deciding the name that allows all of Scotland to be involved.
“I have asked my officials to look at how to best co-ordinate a process for naming the new bridge in which the public can fully participate and the contact and education centre will be a key channel for delivering this.”
Details of this process are likely to be announced next year to allow a name to be chosen in time for the expected opening of the bridge in 2016.
The facility will act as a public information point during construction and a space for a visitor exhibition.
The planned building would also provide a new permanent home for Traffic Scotland’s national control centre.Attention”The construction of the project will clearly be hugely significant for local communities and, as Scotland’s largest infrastructure development for a generation, will also attract considerable national and international attention,” Mr Brown said.
“This facility will be an important place for people to get up to date information about the project and speak directly to representatives from Transport Scotland’s team and its contractors.”
The 1200 square metre dual-use facility will be built on land provided by the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA), which operates and maintains the existing road bridge.
Transport Scotland officials have been working closely with FETA in developing the proposals for the centre.
FETA convener Phil Wheeler said, “It has been a long-held ambition of the bridge authority to see a high quality visitor facility established for the Forth bridges.
“The new bridge will be of huge interest during construction and, once complete, we will have a unique visitor attraction in three major bridges from three consecutive centuries.”
Local representatives have also supported the proposals and welcomed being consulted before plans were finalised.
Martin Gallagher, of Queensferry and District Community Council, said they were pleased to have had the opportunity to comment on the centre proposals before a planning application was submitted.
They recognised the efforts of Transport Scotland to meet the community’s aspirations for a high quality, landmark building for the site.
He said, “The integration of the national control centre will help ensure a long-term role for the building, bringing a legacy potential after the bridge construction activities are complete, such as a Forth Bridges visitor centre.”‘Last-minute somersault’The announcement saw Mid Scotland and Fife Labour MSP John Park accuse the minister of performing a “last-minute somersault.”
This year Mr Park had written to Mr Brown asking for public consultation on the naming.
Mr Brown said the name of the construction phase would remain as the Forth Replacement Crossing Project and Transport Scotland later said arrangements to consider the naming of the new bridge would be put in place in due course.
Mr Park said, “Keith Brown has just a few hours left before parliament dissolves, and has performed a last-minute somersault.
“Maybe he didn’t want his legacy to be as the man who refused to name the biggest construction project in (our) history.
“Only a few weeks ago he wrote to me, refusing my request to hold a public consultation on naming the new Forth Road Bridge but now he has risen to my challenge and agreed.”