The colourful demonstration was organised by the No Alignment Action Group (NAAG) who led a procession to the parliament where they met with Green MSP Robin Harper. As a member of the Transport and the Environment Committee, Robin Harper can take the objections to Transport Minister Sarah Boyack and ask that the Scottish Executive step in stop the scheme or hold a public inquiry. Also supporting the event were Dr Richard Dixon of Friends of the Earth Scotland and Colin Howden, head of campaigns at Transform Scotland. They support calls for improvements which pay heed to the need for better public transport between Edinburgh and Penicuik.
Anyone wishing to object to the road and request a public inquiry can send letters to their MSPs, Sarah Boyack and Donald Dewar at the Scottish Parliament, EH1 99SP. Colin Howden, Campaign Manager of TRANSform Scotland, said: "Midlothian Council have yet to convince anyone that this proposal is anything more than an encouragement to speculative developers to build more out-of-town shopping centres and car commuter suburbs for Edinburgh. This road proposal shows Midlothian Council to be hopelessly out of touch with transport policy emerging from Government. The Scottish Executive should throw out this proposal as being completely inconsistent with the transport and land use policies it is trying to promote." Studies have shown that a rail line could be constructed all the way to Penicuik for between 23-26 million yet Midlothian are proposing to waste more than 20 million on three miles of road that will only create a bottleneck further down the route. Joan Higginson of the local action group NAAG can be contacted on (01968) 675109.