Deadline missed for £3m Holm road realignment

A £3 million project to alter the road between Kirkwall and Holm has been delayed, apparently due to a lack of funding.

Plans to realign a section of the A961 have previously been described as a “precursor” to a new port in Scapa Flow.

It was in May, 2023, that Orkney islands councillors granted planning permission for the authority’s effort to move an 850-metre stretch of the tarmac.

But with no port in sight, the timeline for the major road works has been missed. A planning application has now been lodged to extend the time frame for the start of the project until 2029.

In 2023, the planning committee questioned the link between the road realignment and the proposed Scapa Deep Water Quay.

As well as moving the road to the west of the Netherbutton engine house, the project also includes a junction for a road down to the non-existent port.

OIC claimed that the bends leading into the Holm Straight can create “reduced visibility and blind spots.”

The council said the proposed changes “also aim to address these issues and improve road safety in the area.”

Councillors were not impressed by these attempts to justify the project, with many saying it was clearly about the port.

OIC’s deputy leader, Councillor Sandy Cowie, said: “I think we’re fairly clear that this is not being done to enhance road safety.

“It is purely for the benefit of this hypothetical junction that may or may not go in, in the future.”

Planning permission was granted at the 2023 meeting— with a condition that the work had to be started within three years.

A new application has now been lodged, which would give the OIC team until 2029 to begin the work.

“The commencement has been delayed whilst the project awaits funding,” the new planning papers state.

The works were estimated to cost £2 million, but OIC says the latest estimate, from last year, puts the work at around £3 million.

However funding doesn’t seem to be the only impediment to the road development.

Councillors have previously been told that the road realignment will not proceed unless the Scapa Deep Water gets the go ahead.

The progress of the port plans has been delayed after an objection from Scotland’s nature agency, NatureScot.

OIC is looking to overrule the objection, on the grounds of the port’s importance.