Stand-off on Curley's Lane in Newtonmore

Feelings ran high at Newtonmore Community Council’s latest meeting with more than 20 members of the public turning out to air their concerns over any Highland Council plans to close Curley’s Lane.

The authority has been seeking local opinions for some time over a suggestion to ‘stop up’ the road – with bollards blocking vehicular traffic while allowing pedestrians, cyclists and mobility users access – and confirmed that no formal process is yet under way.

Some who live on the road want closure, on grounds of damaged property, while other locals oppose the idea and appeared in some strength in the public gallery.

Michael Slaney, concerned about damage to his property at the junction of the lane with the main road, spoke at length at last Wednesday’s watchdog meeting about the damage to his wall and the history of his house.

Others present understood his complaint, but several spoke out about the community council possibly coming to a conclusion based on the complaints of one resident.

Graham Fraser, secretary, brought the members up-to-date with a report from local roads operations manager Richard Porteous noting the public views already received.

“This is all informal engagement and there is no formal process under way,” Mr Porteous had confirmed in his brief to local Highland councillor Muriel Cockburn.

"“Sometimes to gauge opinion and understand options we do preliminary work with the community, stakeholders as the team has done in this instance.

“Of course proposals are not always well received and there can be objections.

“Hence the reason for there being a statutory process to follow if changes have to be made.”

Villager Patsy Rimell challenged the community council’s earlier minuted support for stopping up: “I understand its role is to represent the views across the community.”

Others asked what evidence there was of safety issues. It was agreed that the junction onto the main road sometimes had poor visibility but that it was no different from any of the side roads which linked with the A86 on Main Street.

Most of the junctions had limited visibility, said the campaigners.

“The network of side roads in Newtonmore is fragile,” Mrs Rimell pointed out. “Closing a road would just put extra pressure on to a poor road network.”

It was noted many parents now took their children to school by car. The side road outside the school was narrow and there was often congestion at school drop-off and pick up times.

Some of the drivers drove round the block through to Curley’s Lane rather than trying to turn around at the back of the school. If Curley’s Lane was closed off, many parents would be trying to turn their vehicle outside the school or outside the golf club causing safely issues.

Local businessman John Russell stated his support for all the comments made about the importance of keeping the road open.

He said there was an essential need for the wider community to be consulted on such an important decision.

He brought the debate to a conclusion by asking Councillor Cockburn if she would facilitate a public meeting in the village. The local councillor agreed to speak to Mr Porteous to get things moving.

Community councillors also instructed their secretary to ask the roads manager to arrange a formal public meeting in the village to discuss the issue.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.