Dual The A9, The Inverness Courier

In February the Scottish Government admitted that their pledge to dual the A9 by 2025 was unachievable. As the main route of travel connecting the Highlands to the rest of the UK, that has claimed the lives of too many people in our community, it was an announcement that universally angered the north of Scotland.

We launched our Dual The A9 campaign with a gravestone on the front page saying, “RIP SNP promise to dual the A9 by 2025.” The bold move went instantly viral attracting over a million views online and being held up in parliament by cross-party politicians. Following another death, we went on to have a second viral front page asking, “How many more people need to die?” which was also held up in Holyrood.

The Inverness Courier made such a huge noise that the government had to listen, and we became the only regional media to be granted a leadership debate with all three First Minister candidates. This was held in Inverness, attended by an audience of hundreds who put their questions to the candidates, and was live streamed to thousands of people. As well as a dedicated Dual The A9 section of our website, we were keen to force action, so we staged an A9 Crisis Summit in July. The panel included Transport Secretary Mairi McAllan, senior Transport Scotland officials, Fergus Ewing SNP and a local business representative. On the day we heard from people who lost loved ones on the road, local councillors, concerned members of the public, and industry experts.

After the summit we sent a list of 9 demands to the Scottish Government and received a detailed response on every point from director of major projects, Lawrence Shackman confirming that we would get a new A9 dualling timeline this autumn. Our Dual The A9 campaign was recently awarded News Media Association’s Making A Difference award, voted for by the public, for “outstanding efforts in driving change.” That also prompted Fergus Ewing to lodge a motion in the Scottish Parliament, supported by 18 MSPs, congratulating the Inverness Courier and “its unwavering dedication to the Highlands region and its residents, and for championing the cause of dualling the A9.”

All of this started with a gravestone, but as we Tweeted when we first shared that front page: we wont let this dead SNP promise rest in peace.