Legal delays send cost of Aberdeen bypass soaring to £635m

LEGAL delays and inflation have been blamed for sending the construction bill for the long-awaited Aberdeen bypass soaring past £650 million – more than five times the cost of building the road when it was first approved by Scottish ministers nine years ago.

• Aberdeen bypass cost soars to £635m

• Supreme Court rejected appeal against project

In January 2003, when Scottish Government support for the project was announced by the then first minister Jack McConnell, the cost of construction of the 28-mile Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) was estimated at £120 million.

A public inquiry into the controversial route in 2008 led to estimated costs increasing to almost £400m.

But it has now been claimed that a series of legal challenges in the courts by protest group RoadSense, combined with inflation, have sent the estimated costs of cutting jams for motorists in Europe’s oil capital rocketing to a new estimate of £653m.

Earlier this month, the final barrier to the construction of the route was removed when five judges at the Supreme Court unanimously rejected an appeal by RoadSense to challenge the Scottish Government’s go-ahead for the road.

Keith Brown, the Scottish transport minister, yesterday announced: “The unwanted delays caused by the protracted public local inquiry and legal challenges have resulted in a substantial increase in the overall cost of the project.

“In 2008, the AWPR scheme was costed at £347m at 2003 prices.

“The revised cost of the AWPR following changes, the inclusion of standard risk costs and rebasing to 2012 prices totals £653m. Cost increases due to inflation total £230m.”

Kevin Stewart, the SNP MSP for Aberdeen Central, blamed William Walton, the chairman of RoadSense, who led the legal appeals in the Court of Session and the Supreme Court, for the dramatic rise in costs.

“People in the North-east and across Scotland should be in no doubt that William Walton is the £230 million man,” he said.

“The inflationary costs are entirely due to the legal battle which has gone on and on.

“It is ridiculous that the people of the North-east and the rest of Scotland have had to watch as RoadSense used their series of failed legal actions to drive up costs.

“It was an utterly cynical strategy and taxpayers will undoubtedly be furious that RoadSense have landed the public purse with this additional burden.”

Mr Walton, however, dismissed the claims as “fatuous”.

He said: “RoadSense never accepted that the projected costs of the scheme were remotely accurate.

“It is RoadSense’s contention that the current estimates are also inaccurate.

“Based upon the costs of other recently completed schemes elsewhere in the UK, RoadSense contends that the costs for the AWPR are likely to be in excess of £1 billion.”

The Scottish Government is meeting 81 per cent of the costs, with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils each contributing 9.5 per cent of the total bill.

Councillor Jim Gifford, the leader of Aberdeenshire Council, said: “It was always to be expected that the eventual cost of building the AWPR would be greater than the original estimate, which was based on figures from 2003, and is now nearly ten years out of date.

“In terms of the financial contribution the council is making to the AWPR, we continue to explore a number of options and are confident we will be able to secure the necessary funding.”