Through 2017 – 2018 Children’s Parliament facilitated ongoing engagement with children and young people from the Dunkeld & Birnam area to ensure that their voices were included in discussions about the future of their community.
Children’s Parliament facilitated workshops for children and young people to explore different ideas for the road and junctions in the area, and one Member of the Children’s Parliament (MCP) came up with a differently shaped roundabout for the Dunkeld Junction:
“An eggabout wouldn’t take up much space and it would keep the trees. And it could have a guinea pig reserve in the middle!”
“I want the footpath along the road to be safer. I really like to cycle and I could get better at cycling if the path to Dunkeld was safer.”
“Build a roundabout where the A923 meets Perth Road to slow down traffic coming off the A9 and into Dunkeld- it would be safer for children walking to school.”
“Widen the road to the south so that it isn’t any closer to the houses.”
There were some worries about the road changes taking place:
“My concern is that it [the road changes] may be a treat to current thriving wildlife and scenery and my hope is that it causes minimum disturbance to the community.”
“[I worry] That I didn’t get a choice about it but it’s happening. Why didn’t you take kids’ opinions before deciding to build it?”
“Dunkeld thrives off tourism and if the A9 is dualled it will perhaps make Dunkeld more accessible. The proposed plans (e.g the tunnel) could damage economy by making it less attractive/accessible. If the road is change to go behind Dunkeld it makes it less easy to get to.”