Welcoming the decision by the Supreme Court that paves the way for the eventual progress of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said:
'Business across Scotland and particularly those in the North East will welcome this decision by the Supreme Court. The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will help to facilitate greater opportunity and prosperity in the North East of Scotland and this common sense judgement should at last allow the needs of the vast majority of those in and around Aberdeen and Grampian to prevail.
'Quite frankly it is an affront to our planning and legal processes that this essential development has been delayed for so long by the spurious arguments of a tiny minority, whose case has been dismissed time and time again at every forum at which it has been considered. Action is needed now to stop this costly farce from ever happening again.
'The ball should now be squarely in the court of the Scottish Government and their indicative timetable reveals that they expect this project to be completed by spring 2018. We urge them to proceed with haste.
'It is unacceptable that a vital infrastructure project that was announced by the then Scottish Executive in January 2003 should take over 15 years to be completed. Scotland deserves and requires better from its planning and legal systems. Lessons from this debacle must be learnt and implemented forthwith.'
