The building of the Forth Road Bridge’s replacement should be put on hold and the cash saved handed to struggling councils, a campaigner has claimed.
Bruce Whitehead, the former chairman of ForthRight Alliance, opposed the construction of the replacement Queensferry Crossing on traffic, cost and environmental grounds and now thinks the project should be mothballed.
Former First Minister Alex Salmond was praised for ploughing on with the bridge originally dubbed a “vanity project” by some of his opponents when last month’s 19-day closure of the Forth Road Bridge exposed the country’s reliance on a single, ageing crossing.
But Mr Whitehead, a Left Unity candidate for Edinburgh North and Leith last May, said given engineers are confident the bridge will “function normally” until 2089, the construction of the Queensferry Crossing can be mothballed to save £1 billion.
He said that could pay for the reinstatement of £320 million that was cut from council coffers in Finance Secretary John Swinney’s draft budget last month.
Writing on grassroots party website Labour Hame, Mr Whitehead said: “Not spending the remaining £1bn will fund the reversal of John Swinney’s planned council budget cuts for three years.
“Surely that’s a higher priority? Engineering projects are often mothballed and kept for when they might be needed in the future. The Queensferry Crossing could be kept oiled and wrapped up until, say, 2085, leaving four years to add on the remaining bits of Lego.
“A doddle. I know what I’d do.”