A PETITION TO MORAY COUNCILLORS on Tuesday has resulted in a pledge to look again at placing safety barriers at Parkmore Brae on the B9014.
The Dufftown and District Community Council has been spearheading a campaign for months in the hope of forcing Moray Council to spend around £30,000 on safety barriers.
They insist that since trees were removed from the bend on the route that links Keith and Dufftown, the road has become a serious risk – with any vehicle not taking the bend properly liable to career unchecked down a steep bank onto the Keith to Dufftown rail line.
After hearing a presentation from the Community Council the committee considered several options including backing the view of officials that no barriers are required on the route and that new warning signage was sufficient.
SNP councillors, led by Councillor Pearl Paul, argued that consideration should be given to new barriers and that the matter should be discussed at Full Council before any decision is taken, with councillors visiting the site to see for themselves the situation described by local residents.
In the event that proposal was accepted by a single vote.
Following the meeting Councillor Paul said: “I have been arguing the case for safety barriers at Parkmore Brae for many months and I commend the work of Dufftown & District Community Council who haven’t let this important safety issue go.
“At this location it is not so much a banking as a ravine that drops a long, long way down to the railway below. It was important that the issue was not kicked into the long grass and I am pleased that the SNP has led the charge in the Council on this and that it will now get a full hearing at a meeting of the full Council in the next couple of months.
“The vote was won by seven votes to six and I sincerely hope that we can get backing from the Full Council to put safety barriers in place at this stretch of road, which is causing so much concern to the local community.
“I am also pleased that councillors will also go out to see the location first hand before making their final decision.”