The M77/A77 Trunk Road (Girvan) (Temporary Prohibition on Use of Road) Order 2024

The Scottish Ministers give notice that they have made the above Order under sections 2(1) and (2), 4(1) and 16A of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, which will have the effect of temporarily prohibiting use of vehicles on that length of the M77/A77 Glasgow – Stranraer Trunk Road known as Dalrymple Street, Girvan, from its junction with Knockcushan Street, Girvan, to its junction with Wesley Road, Girvan, a distance of 355 metres or thereby.

The Order, which is required to facilitate the Girvan Christmas Street Party, will be in operation on Sunday 1st December 2024 from 10:00 - 19:00. No vehicles should be left on Dalrymple Street during this time period as there will be no movement of vehicles.

Diversion is at turn right at Knockcushan Street, left at roundabout on to Henrietta Street until it joins original road at Glendoune Street.

For more information contact David Girvan 07415332989

The Order does not apply to vehicles while being used in an emergency for fire brigade, ambulance, police or coastguard purposes or a vehicle being used for facilitating the holding of the relevant event.

Alternative routes

No alternative route is required.

For information about roadworks on motorways and trunk roads visit Traffic Scotland

S LEGGETT
A member of the staff of the Scottish Ministers
Transport Scotland
George House
36 North Hanover Street
Glasgow G1 2AD

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 Compatibility Consideration and Narration of Statement of Compatibility

The Scottish Ministers have made the following statement regarding children’s rights.

“In accordance with section 23(2) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 (the Act), the Scottish Ministers certify that, in their view, The M77/A77 Trunk Road (Inverkip) (Temporary Prohibition on Use of Road) Order 2024 is compatible with the UNCRC requirements as defined by section 1(2) of the Act.”

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment Template

Introduction

1. Brief Summary (Guidance Section 3.2, page 20).

Type of proposal: SSI

Name the proposal, and describe its overall aims and intended purpose.

Key Term Definitions

Prohibition – to officially and legally not allow something.

Restriction – to officially and legally limit something.

Authorise – to give official permission for something to happen, or to give someone official permission to do something

The M77/A77 Trunk Road (Girvan) (Temporary Prohibition on Use of Road) Order 2024 allows for the temporary prohibition on use of road, to be placed on the use of the lengths of trunk road specified in the schedule of the order for a period beginning on 1st December 2024 and ending on 1st December 2024. The exact lengths of trunk road affected by the order are located throughout the south west of Scotland and can be found in the order itself. The prohibitions and restrictions provided by the order would come into effect where the relevant traffic signs specified in the order are displayed. The order will not prevent emergency vehicles from using those lengths of road through case by case planning and agreement prior to the order commencing. The traffic management is required to protect the public during the annual community event of turning on Christmas lights.

Start date of proposal’s: 30/08/2024

Start date of CRWIA process: 30/08/2024

2. With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which aspects of the proposal are relevant to children’s rights?

During the development of this order, the operating company responsible for the road closure has assessed whether the temporary prohibitions and/or restrictions allowed by this order will negatively impact on children and young people’s ability to access buildings such as schools and/ or childcare facilities, higher or further education institutions, hospitals, places used for recreational activity, and places of worship.

We intend to keep any such impacts to an absolute minimum and avoid them where possible. Additionally, regard has been given to ensure reasonable diversion routes which do not add significant commuting time. There is the potential for access to a number of venues, facilities and buildings used by children and young people to be affected. Therefore, there is the potential for the order to impact children and young people’s right to education (article 28), right to health and health services (article 24), right to leisure play and culture (article 31), and freedom of thought, belief and religion (article 14).

However, the closure will be in place on a Sunday for the duration of *** when schools and higher and further education institutions will be closed and therefore access to them does not apply. For all remaining facilities which have the potential to impact local access routes around the closure will remain open and access for all emergency services will be maintained. Suitable diversion routes which do not add significant travel time is made available and the event has been well publicised to people who may be impacted by the closure. 

The purpose behind the order is to maintain the safety of people attending the event therefore, we consider the traffic management to have a positive impact both directly and in-directly to article 6 (right to life, survival and development).

There was the potential for freedom of association and freedom of expression to be positively impacted, however that is a result of the parade taking place in itself and is therefore outside the scope of this CRWIA. The road closure merely allows for the safe running of the event so this was also ruled out again with article 6 being the only potential impact identified.

3. Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used to inform your decision-making and the content of the proposal.

From:

• existing research/reports/policy expertise
• consultation/feedback from stakeholders
• consultation/feedback directly from children and young people

The operating company responsible for the road closure have past experience and knowledge to support our decision making process, however, engagement, consultation and communication are extremely important in our planning and delivery of approving traffic management. As part of this process, maps are used to determine who will be impacted within a certain mile radius.

The company has mapped out the extents of this order and we are aware of the impact to the travelling public (particularly with this being the strategic trunk road network), as a road closure is required, suitable diversion will be in place. Utilising maps, sites were identified, which may be impacted by the event. This assessment includes buildings next to the trunk road, which generally is not the case on this network, as well as buildings nearby which may be impacted by event on the trunk road, or facilities within a diversion route.

Utilising mapping tools, there are no buildings impacted. There are schools close by however this event will be taking place on a Sunday where schools are not open. Any impacted stakeholders were contacted by the event organiser to discuss individual impact. The traffic management has gone through stakeholder consultation in advance of them being carried out, including liaison with local authorities and Police Scotland, and feedback has been obtained on any required adjustments to the traffic management or proposals.

This road closure, including diversion route, is also noticed and plotted on the Scottish Roadworks Register, and no conflicts were identified. In addition, there were no works identified on the diversion route.

This road closure has a minor diversion proposed with little impact, therefore the operating company did not need to use tools such as Traffic Impact Assessments on this occasion.

This road closure will be carried out at a weekend; therefore schools are not impacted. Similarly, access for emergency service vehicles will be maintained throughout event, however if emergency services cannot be accommodated, they are made aware of the alternative routes well in advance of event starting. We always ensure that there is a standard incident diversion route in place.

The event organisers will consult with Police Scotland, the local authorities, Transport Scotland and other key stakeholders. Please note that local roads which are the responsibility of the local authority are more commonly likely to provide direct access to a number of facilities which may be utilised by children and young people such as schools, leisure centres, and GP offices, however this CRWIA has allowed us and the operating company to identify where potential impact to facilities may occur and mitigate against these.

The operating company’s Liaison Officer has good knowledge of the surrounding area and has built up a relationship with stakeholders such as the local schools. However on this occasion there are no buildings impacting children’s rights as outlined throughout question 1 and the paragraph below.

While there is the potential for access to facilities to be impacted or limited as a result of the order (until we add our planning measures prior to the order commencing), undertaking a road closure to provide support to an annual community event, provides a general positive impact to the public, including children, by reducing the safety issues occurring due to the increased number of people on and near these roads during the event.

Statistics show a decrease in the number of road traffic incidents in recent years and while we know that this looks a much broader range of incidents than those cause what this order looks to impact alone, contributing to the reduction of road traffic incidents through this order and many like it will have a positive impact on children’s right to life, survival and development.

With UNICEF reporting in their child and adolescent road safety technical guidance that ‘road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and adolescents aged 5–19 years’ we look to reduce chances of this in Scotland by contributing to the improvement of road safety.

4. Further to the evidence described at ‘3’ have you identified any 'gaps' in evidence which may prevent determination of impact? If yes, please provide an explanation of how they will be addressed.

Not Applicable

5. Analysis of Evidence (Guidance Section 3.2, page 26).

Utilising the mapping process allowed the operating company to identify buildings which may be impacted by the order in terms of accessibility. This was then further understood through engagement with Police Scotland, the local authorities, Transport Scotland and other key stakeholders to provide input on potential impacts and the best ways to mitigate against these.

From the evidence described above, a suitable diversion route will be put in place should they be required which take into account the potential impacts.

While certain buildings that children and young people may use were identified as being potentially impacted, the timing of the event allowed us to rule out certain facilities such as schools and further and higher education institutions as the event takes place outside of their open hours. Where facilities were open during the times of the event, a suitable diversion route is put in place which does not add significant travel time and will allow access to impacted facilities.

The potential access issues and mitigations put in place is outlined in question 9.

6. What changes (if any) have been made to the proposal as a result of this assessment? (Guidance Section 3.2, page 26)

The operating company assessed if the closure and/ or restrictions provided in this order had a potential to restrict access to such an extent that it would require additional measures to be put in place. This allowed for general planning procedures to mitigate against any potentially negative impacts. Therefore, while mitigations were put in place in the planning, this is current process for these orders so did not require a change to process. If any unintended situations occur during the time this order is in operation, these will be mitigated against in the same way.

Conclusion

7. As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all UNCRC requirements, what is the potential overall impact of this proposal on children’s rights? (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 26-27):

Children’s Rights

Applicable answer(s): Positive and Negative

8. If you have identified a positive impact on children’s rights, please describe below how the proposal will protect, respect, and fulfil children’s rights in Scotland. (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 27-28).

As this is an A road, not closing this road was identified to have potentially dangerous consequences and therefore has the potential to have an increased risk for children and young people. Therefore there was the positive impact closing the road would have on article 6 was identified. 

9. If a negative impact has been identified please describe below. Is there a risk this could potentially amount to an incompatibility?

Suitable alternative routes were identified which did not add significant additional time. Therefore, following the mitigations as outlined below, we do not anticipate a potential negative impact to children and young people’s rights as set out in the UNCRC Act.

Mitigation Record

What options have been considered to modify the proposal in order to mitigate negative impact or potential incompatibility issues?

Please summarise mitigation actions taken below

Issue or risk Identified per article/ Optional Protocol

Limited or restricted access to a number of buildings used by children (without planning measures put in place).

Action Taken/ To Be Taken Consideration of the timing of traffic management to limit the impact to the public, including children

Provision of suitable diversion routes, limiting the impact of closures to the public.

Case by case planning of the best way to supply access to these roads in a safe manner to emergency vehicles.

Making the local community aware of the event by publicising it and the road closure to ensure they are aware when the road is closed for a short period of time.

Date action to be taken or was taken

Prior to the order commencing the planning for these mitigating actions was mapped out so will be put in place when works begin.

10. As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all wellbeing indicators, will the proposal contribute to the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland? (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 29-30).

Applicable answer: Yes

If yes, please provide and explanation below:

Safe

As this is an A road, not closing this road was identified to have potentially dangerous consequences and therefore has the potential to have an increased risk for children and young people. Therefore it is determined there would be a positive contribution to the safe wellbeing indicator.

11. How will you communicate to children and young people the impact that the proposal will have on their rights? (Guidance Section 3.2, page 31)

The CRWIA will be published and has been written in accessible language so as to allow for children and young people to understand its content and the potential impact (or no impact) on their rights.

Post Assessment Review and sign-off

12. Planning for the review of impact on children’s rights and wellbeing (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 31).

As part of the decision-making process, plans for reviewing the impact on children’s rights and wellbeing need to be developed.

• How will the impact of the proposal on children’s rights and wellbeing be monitored?
• When will you review and update the CRWIA if required?

Through the duration of this order, the CRWIA will be referred to and due consideration given to the rights of children and young people if any unintended impacts occur.

13. Sign off (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 31-32).

Policy Lead Signature & Date of Sign Off: - N. Lang 18 September 2024

Deputy Director Signature & Date of Sign Off: Stewart Leggett – 21 November 2024

Date CRWIA team first contacted: 18 September 2024