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2 November 04
Gibson calls on underspend to be spent on
relieving development constraints
Having visited the major Caithness water treatment plant Rob Gibson,
SNP MSP for Highlands and Islands described the new plant at Halkirk as a
shining example of what should be on offer to all Scottish Water
customers.
On reflection the Highlands and Islands
MSP reiterated his call for the Scottish Executive to make far more
funding available to Scottish Water to relieve the problem of development
restraints he said...
 "The
plant at Halkirk has the capacity to be extended should more people move
into the area, the same cannot be said of many older plants. This
development veto, due to lack of available funds from the Minister Ross
Finnie, is a real burden to many communities that are blighted by a
development veto on new homes and business developments ."
He continued..."Last week I found out in
the Rural and Environment Committee that there is a �205 million projected
under spend in Scottish Water this financial year. That is money which
could begin to alleviate some of the development constraints in our rural
water treatment and sewage plants."
 He continued..."Where possible the
capacity of both reservoirs and sewerage treatment systems should be
expanded where there is a desire for people to live, this is one of the
important pieces of the jigsaw that will go a long way to regenerating our
rural communities be they located in Orkney, the Far North or in rural
Perthshire."
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